Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) said former President Trump selling branded Bibles is “risky business” given the sins of his life, adding to criticism against the former president over the deal.
Warnock, a reverend who gave an Easter sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Martin Luther King Jr.’s church in Atlanta, on Sunday, said selling the Bibles goes against the beliefs of the religion.
“The Bible does not need Donald Trump’s endorsement,” Warnock said in a CNN “State of the Union” interview with Dana Bash on Sunday. “Jesus, in the very last week of his life, chased the money changers out of the temple, those who would take sacred things and use them as cheap relics to be sold in the marketplace.”
Trump’s “God Bless USA” Bibles went on sale last week before the Easter holiday, in partnership with country singer Lee Greenwood, for $60 each. Each copy also contains the Constitution and Declaration of Independence, raising concerns over the rise of Christian nationalism in the country.
“The sad thing is that none of us are surprised by this. This is what we expect from the former president,” Warnock continued. “At the end of the day. I think he’s trying to sell the American people a bill of goods.”
The Senator also noted the Bible sales were ironic given his history of lying, he said.
“The folks who buy those Bibles might actually open them up, where it says things like ‘Thou shalt not lie,’ or ‘shalt not bear false witness,’” he said. “Where it warns about wolves dressed up in sheep’s clothing. I think he ought to be careful. This is risky business for somebody like Donald Trump.”
The Bible sales have been widely criticized and mocked since their announcement, being featured on “Saturday Night Live,” as well as denounced by former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.).
Cheney said Tuesday that instead of selling Bibles, Trump “should probably buy one.”
“And read it, including Exodus 20:14,” Cheney added, referring to the verse that commands, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”
