This is an abbreviated version of the article by Suzanne Bowdey which appeared in The Washington Stand on July 15, 2024 – Mike Johnson (Speaker): Trump ‘Seems to Have a Very Clear View of What This Meant. God Spared His Life.’

Americans woke up Sunday morning to a very different world. In the aftermath of Donald Trump’s literal brush with death, campaigns, Congress, and even political conventions seemed secondary to the deep horror at what we’ve become as a nation. And for once, after years of being at each others’ throats, a sober country has stopped to reflect: Is this really who we are?

In the days and hours since the bloody president emerged from the stage, fist in the air, everyone seems to understand the gravity of this moment. America was, as so many have pointed out, less than a quarter of an inch away from a national crisis from which we may never have recovered. “Sometimes the course of history depends on margins just that small,” the editors of the National Review remind us solemnly.

The miracle of his survival was not lost on Trump, who acknowledged, “It was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening.” In an interview less than 24 hours after the assassination attempt, the reality of what might have happened “is just setting in,” the former president told the Washington Examiner’s Salena Zito. “I rarely look away from the crowd,” he admitted. “Had I not done that in that moment, well, we would not be talking today, would we?”

As he boarded a plane for Wisconsin, the former president also clarified that he understands this pivotal moment. “It’s a chance to unite the country,” he said solemnly. “I was given that chance.” God is giving Americans one more chance to repent and acnowledge Him as Lord over the nation. Will they respond? Based on the fact that America is absent from end times Biblical prophecy I doubt it.

Family Research Council, Chairman Tony Perkins, who’s been on the ground as a delegate in Milwaukee, agrees that the weekend’s shocking events have completely “changed the dynamics of the convention.” “It’s time to come together,” he said on C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal” Monday morning, and “not just for Republicans. It’s time to come together as a nation. It’s time for us to … as Jesus said, [to] love our neighbor. Now, that doesn’t mean that all of a sudden our differences go away,” Perkins underscored. “But you know what? We have an understanding that each and every human being is created in the image … of God. Therefore, they have value regardless of what political party they might be in.”

Trump agreed with Perkins, that democracy is a messy system. Democracy always will be. “[B]ut it’s still the greatest system in the history of the world. And the minute we abandon, try to shut one another down, or stifle debate, the pressure builds.” “You’ve got to allow for that vigorous debate, but it’s got to be within the confines of that system.”

Speaker, Mike Johnson believes the “key”, is to understand that we are all part of the same country. We are all brothers and sisters in that regard. I mean, if you look at it biblically we are supposed to love our enemies, right? Much less our fellow countrymen. You love your neighbor as yourself. If you do that, it solves a lot of problems.” Of course, that doesn’t mean we “change our perspective” or “abandon truths,” he was quick to clarify. “It just means we are civil in our conversation.”

That said, Perkins warned somberly, “I think we’re at a crossroads … a pivotal point. This could be the hinge upon which this nation turns, depending on how … Donald Trump addresses this moment. And he suggested that he’s going to take maybe a path less traveled.”

Frankly, the speaker replied, “I’ve been so heartened to see his thoughts and comments articulated over the last day or so since the assassination attempt. He seems to have a very clear view of what this meant. God spared his life. I mean, it was a miracle. We all saw it. Everyone saw it. It’s hard to deny.” Ironically, Johnson made these statements after very nearly losing his own sons last year after a visit to Mar-a-Lago — something he and the former president discussed at length last Thanksgiving.

“In Johnson’s telling, Will, who was 13, was drowning; 18-year-old Jack, prepared to give up his own life, tried to push his brother back to the surface. A parasailer happened to spot Will’s head from above. He hurried back to shore and alerted the lifeguards, who went out on jet skis to bring the boys in. Johnson arrived at the beach to find medical personnel hovering over his sons, pumping their chests. They would spend four hours in the emergency room before being cleared to go home,” The Atlantic wrote this spring in the first public telling of the near-loss.

“‘President Trump heard about it somehow, miraculously, this never made the news,’ Johnson recalled. The two got on the phone. ‘He was just so moved by the idea that we almost lost them, and we talked about it at great length. And we talked about the faith aspect of that because he knows that I believe that God spared the lives of my sons. That’s how I understand those events, and we talked about that.” Johnson continued: “And he said, he repeated back to me and said, ‘God — God saved your sons’ lives.’”

Eight months later, the former president has experienced the touch of divine providence for himself, and the young speaker who wondered where those conversations about God would go has a very poignant answer. “He said, ‘God has given me a chance here — and that is to unify the country.’ [Those are] his words, not mine. So I’m really excited to see how he articulates that and how we meet it out.”

Note how the media downplayed the assassination attempt: CNN: “Secret Service rushes Trump off stage after he falls at rally”. Washington Post: “Trump escorted away after loud noises at rally”. USA Today: “Trump removed from stage by Secret Service after loud noises, startle the former president..”

This messaging was meant to diminish and minimize the truth that a shooter attempted to assassinate President Trump.