Did Reince Priebus Just Compare Donald Trump To Jesus? GOP Faces Intense Social Media Backlash After ‘New King’ Christmas Statement
Did Reince Priebus just compare Donald Trump to Jesus Christ?
The RNC Chairman was the subject of intense social media backlash on Christmas Day after a statement on the GOP website quoted him ostensibly comparing the new President-elect to Jesus Christ, according to The Hill.
“Over two millennia ago, a new hope was born into the world, a Savior who would offer the promise of salvation to all mankind,” RNC chairman Reince Priebus and co-chair Sharon Day said in the Christmas statement.
“Just as the three wise men did on that night, this Christmas heralds a time to celebrate the good news of a new King. We hope Americans celebrating Christmas today will enjoy a day of festivities and a renewed closeness with family and friends.”
good lord https://t.co/9etYehnJux pic.twitter.com/srSegSWBoq
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) December 25, 2016
The statement sparked a quickfire Twitter backlash as users interpreted the statement as meaning that the GOP considered President-elect Donald Trump as the new savior of all mankind. The “new King” part of the statement drew particular ire from users who claimed that the GOP was attempting to paint Donald Trump as a god-like figure. Not even hours had passed since the GOP published the statement on Christmas Day, that journalists and left-leaning Twitter users pounced on the clumsy wording of the statement, calling it “stupid” and “absolutely bonkers.” Others remarked that comparing a President to a King was alarming for altogether different reasons.
OMFG. https://t.co/XjJsaCc2o6 pic.twitter.com/Ng725lrY2m
— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) December 25, 2016
The distinction between a president and a king is not trivial https://t.co/8At2sHon1E
— Jonathan Chait (@jonathanchait) December 25, 2016
The Christmas statement also created a furor on Reddit, with users saying that its meaning went beyond only calling Donald Trump the “new King” of mankind.
“Holy hell, the passage in context is worse,” one user wrote about the statement.
“They aren’t just calling Trump a king. They are likening this ‘new king’ to Christ in the Nativity scene.
“Unless the RNC is saying they secretly know Jesus has been reborn, the way they wrote this sounds like they are saying Trump is a literal God King.
“Even if they don’t mean this ‘literally’, it’s stupid to even out this out.”
Others said that it was surprising that such a statement even made itself past the Communications Director of Reince Priebus’ team, arguing that any talk of a “King” should have been red-flagged because of the connotations it could have.
“Its so stupidly poorly worded I’d like [to know] how no one on Preibus’ staff red flagged this at some point.
“Rule number 1 of American Democracy: The President is not the King.
“Anytime a white house staffer sees a statement that has the word ‘king’ in it, that staffer should have an automatic reflex that checks whether the statement accidentally refers to the President as king.”
The GOP Christmas statement sparked further ire as some social media users argued that the GOP was deliberately leaving out the religious minorities in its statement.
“Still concerning, though less surprising.
“We hope Americans celebrating Christmas today will enjoy a day of festivities and a renewed closeness with family and friends.
“And to people who don’t celebrate Christmas: kindly know you’re going to burn in Hell.”
So the RNC thinks Trump is our New King? Coming again as Jesus did? This is getting really spooking. What kind of Kool-Aid is that? https://t.co/9Mf5zEA89G
— P a u l ? (@ybarrap) December 25, 2016
Even so, there were other social media users that blasted the backlash on Reince Priebus’ statement, arguing that progressives and liberals were trying to pick on the GOP on Christmas Day for no reason. Some admitted that the statement was poorly worded, but nonetheless claimed that the GOP had no intention of comparing Donald Trump to Jesus, or indeed call him a king. They maintained that Jesus Christ was being the only one being called a “King” in the statement.
RNC spokesman and incoming White House press secretary Sean Spicer also hit back in similar fashion, telling CNN “Christ is the King in the Christian faith.”
Christ is the King. He was born today so we could be saved. Its sad & disappointing you are politicizing such a holy day. https://t.co/NEOkLNd1Mz
— Sean Spicer (@seanspicer) December 25, 2016
What is your take on the backlash? Do you think Reince Priebus deliberately compared Donald Trump to Jesus Christ or do you think that the statement was merely badly worded?
[Featured Image by Mark Wilson/Getty Images]
