Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Catholic
Politics and Religion
A Word on Trump’s Indictment

A Word on Trump’s Indictment

Last updated on: March 30, 2023 at 7:42 pm by Mary Pezzulo

0 Comments

A Word on Trump’s Indictment 2023-03-30T19:42:19-04:00 Mary Pezzulo

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Today is an historic day.

In case you’re just joining us: today it was announced that a Grand Jury in the state of New York has voted to indict former reality TV star Donald Trump. This is the first of what promises to be a slew of criminal indictments for Trump: he’s currently under investigation for his treasonous actions on January Sixth, for tax fraud, for election tampering, and I can’t even remember what else.

No other ex-president in the history of our country has been indicted. Richard M. Nixon, criminal that he was, was never indicted. Andrew Johnson, who let the traitors responsible for a Civil War that slaughtered 620,000 Americans right back into Congress, wasn’t indicted. John Tyler who sided with the traitors was not indicted. Warren G. Harding was not indicted. Herbert Hoover was not indicted. That famous sleaze, Bill Clinton, has yet to be indicted. Only Trump has been indicted.

The indictment itself is still under seal at this time, so nobody knows exactly which charges are being pressed. But the charges stem from Trump’s alleged attempts to hide a sexual encounter with adult film star and director Stephanie Clifford, who goes by the stage name Stormy Daniels. Daniels has alleged that Trump, who called her “Honeybunch,” invited her to dinner in his hotel room in 2006. There, she says, she was asked to spank Trump with a copy of Forbes magazine, among other things. That in itself isn’t illegal. The illegality stems from Trump’s paying $130,000 in hush money so that the affair wouldn’t become news immediately after the infamous Access Hollywood tape, where Trump was secretly recorded boasting about sexually assaulting women by “grabbing them by the p*ssy,” was released to the public. The exact charges will presumably be made known eventually. Trump denies that all of this happened, of course, but his former lawyer Michael Cohen already spent some time in prison for campaign finance violations stemming from the encounter.

Personally, I’m in awe.

I became infamous, in certain internet circles, for being a fairly orthodox Catholic who denounced Trump back in 2016. I dug in my heels and insisted he wasn’t a champion of traditional values after his nomination. My family’s paid a price for that. Local Catholics here in Steubenville think there’s nothing less Catholic than being against a Republican presidential candidate. I was painted as a heretic. I’ve been harassed by Catholic internet trolls with pictures of Jesus and Mary in their profile photos ever since. They viewed Trump as their savior, someone who would return Christian family values to the White House. I pointed out that this was ludicrous, but they were certain. Trump, they insisted, was the champion of the pro-life movement, of the “traditional family,” of the Rule of Law. It was either Trump or that old sinner Hillary Clinton, a grandmother and a practicing Methodist who has been faithfully married to the same man, in spite of his philandering, since 1975. I despised them both, but that wasn’t enough. I was supposed to revere Trump. The rest is history.

After the absolute filth that’s been slung at me for the past seven years by the primmest and most prudish Traditional Catholics, there’s something so fitting about today’s indictment. It’s not for treason or insurrection, not for espionage, not even for tax evasion. The first indictment of Donald J. Trump is for a hush money payment to a porn star who spanked him.

This is what today’s Republican party is at its very heart: loathsome, boorish, narcissistic criminals manipulating conservative Christians by claiming to champion their interests.

I’m sure there will be serious political commentary in the coming months. But for now, I’m just going to raise a glass and have a good laugh.

Mary Pezzulo is the author of Meditations on the Way of the Cross, The Sorrows an d Joys of Mary, and Stumbling into Grace: How We Meet God in Tiny Works of Mercy.

Steel Magnificat operates almost entirely on tips. To tip the author, visit our donate page.

Politics and Religion

Previous Post

March 28, 2023

Harbinger of Spring

Next Post

March 31, 2023 When the World is Returning to Life

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"You're talking about supercessionism, the idea that Christians "replace" the covenant that the Jewish people ..."

Alex

Yes, the Old Testament is About ..."

"Oh I'm sure it did."

Mary

A Televised Execution is a Moral, ..."

"For what its worth, it seems like the whole thing originated from Pete Hegsith speaking ..."

Evil-Striker

A Televised Execution is a Moral, ..."

"You may be right. A war and its aftermath are different than day-to-day governance. Still, ..."

Mary

On Traditionalist Bullies, and the Death ..."

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category abortion Abuse Advent America American Christianity angel angels Annunciation Appalachia apparition apparition chaser apparition chasers apparition culture art art review babies baby baby Jesus Bad Lip Reading bad statue contest bath beauty Bible story blog blogkeeping blood book review Brandon Sanderson breastfeeding bus Catholic catholic conspiracy alarmism Catholic Oppositional Disorder Charismatic Renewal Charlie the Cat chastity Christ Christian idenitity Christianity and Judaism Chronic Illness clean clothing COD piece comedy compassion conscience conspiracy theory conversion cop-on-black violence Crucifixion cry of the poor culture Daesh Daily Saints death death penalty devotional diaconate diaper diapers dirty disability Donald Trump Dorothy Day dream drugs Eastern Catholicism Eastern Christianity education election election update Elsewhere on Patheos empathy environment Fear feminism film review fish flashback fluffy buns food Franciscan University of Steubenville Friendship Room fun Gabriel gardening gospel hair-splitting Heaven hell heresy Hillary Clinton history Holly the Witch Holy Spirit holy war Homeschooling homosexuality horror human dignity humor Icon idol immigrants infection inter-religious dialogue Interpretation of Scripture Islam Jesus Jihad Joseph joy laity and lay vocations lamb dinner laundry lent lgbtq literature love manners Mary Medicine and Science Meditation mercy mess milk misogyny Missouri monasticism monster motherhood mourn with those mourn movies movis music mystery nature neurodiversity New Pro-Life Movement news nonsense nostalgia O antiphons obituary objectification Ohio Valley Ordinary Time ordination Ordo Amoris parable paradox Passover peanut butter personal beliefs pets philosophy Planet Charismatic poetry politics polls poop Pope Francis Pope Leo power in the Church prayer prayer request prayers preferential option for non-violence president presidential election priest primary private revelation pro-life prophecy Public face of Catholicism Pure Flix Q and A race racism random rape rape. sexuality reader's request Reckoners refugee religious trauma ressurrection Right to life Saints saints and celebrations same-sex same-sex marriage satire scandal secular feasts seder Seven Joys Seven Last Words sex sexual ethics sexuality silencing six months skid row slavery social justice Speculative fiction spiritual abuse spoon stain story suffering suffrage suffragette Sunday Gospel temple Tenebrae Responsories Terror the exorcist The Friendship Room The New Pro-Life Movement Things I Learned on the Internet tin cup traffic true story tv review Uncategorized USCCB vice and temptation violence Virtue virtue and vice war Way of the Cross whimsy whole life women's ordination work of mercy Year A

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which writer besides Solomon and David contributed to Proverbs?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Asaph Moses Nathan Agur