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Saturday Night Live mocks conservatives comparing Donald Trump to Jesus.

Last week, Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records and conspiracy for his alleged role in hush money payments to two women toward the end of his 2016 presidential campaign. This historic moment was the first time a former president was indicted for his alleged crimes. Of course, Republicans couldnt wait to defend Trump with any justification for his behavior that they deemed viable.

This included his lawyer, Alina Habba, claiming Trumps New York City indictment puts him in the leagues of Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. Habba. Donald Trump is Tupac. Donald Trumps Biggie Smalls, hes better than Tupac. Im east coast, so I love Biggie, Habba said. Donald Trump is his own brand. He is everything. This is just gonna boost him, weve seen it in the polls. Its not a question, its a fact.

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Shockingly, this would be the least incendiary statement the right would say about Trumps indictment. Resident Republican bigot Marjorie Taylor Greene compared Trumps prosecution to the persecution of Jesus Christ during an interview. Greene traveled to Manhattan to protest Trumps arraignment, discussed the timing of the arraignment before invoking the name of Christ.

Nelson Mandela was arrested, served time in prison. Jesus! Jesus was arrested and murdered by the Roman government, she pathetically commented. There have been many people throughout history that have been arrested and persecuted by radical corrupt governments, and its beginning today in New York City.

Trump supporter and attorney Joseph McBride said on social media last month that President Trump will be arrested during Lenta time of suffering and purification for the followers of Jesus Christ. As Christ was crucified, and then rose again on the 3rd day, so too will @realDonaldTrump. Violence is never the answer. Winning the election is. Vote for Trump!

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Nothing is beneath the right to cling to power and propping up Trump as a political sacrifice was perhaps a predictable move. Even though its obviously outrageous and ridiculously tone-deaf, its how conservatives have always movedand its proven alarmingly effective. Saturday Night Live even mocked the analogy last night. During the Easter-themed opening skit, actor Mikey Day starred as Christ sitting with his disciples during The Last Supper.

However, the gathering was crashed by Trump (portrayed by James Austin Johnson) who challenged Christs assertions of persecution. Sound familiar? A famous, wonderful man arrested for no reason at all, Johnson said as the former president. As we speak, I am being persecuted on a level the likes of which the world has never seen, even worse than the late, great Jesus.

Johnson also called Florida Governor Ron DeSantis his own version of judas. Ron DeSantis came to me, tears in his eyes, he said, Help me, Mr. Trump, Im going to lose my election. So I very generously pretended to like him, and then he did a Judas, and now he cant even get the gays out of Disney World. Johnson continued:

Mr. Jesus, quite a guy, but now people are saying perhaps Im even better than Jesus because Im a self-made billionaire and Christ was, lets call it what it is, a nepo baby. I mean, his dad was God: Its pretty easy to start a religion when your dad is God. Though the number was comical, sadly it wasnt far-fetched. The country has seenand suffered because ofthe fanaticism of the right.

The irreparable damage conservatives have done to Americans in the name of religion continues to harm marginalized and vulnerabilities groups. Whether its laws that attempt to eradicate trans people, abolish womens rights, employ deadly police forces or emphatically uphold the right to bear arms, Christianity has become the go-to excuse for Republicans to act however they like.

In other words, Trumps martyrdom is just a symptom of a much largerand much more dangerousproblem.

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The Danger of Comparing Donald Trump to Jesus - Yahoo Life

The Republican presidential primary was always expected to revolve around Trump. But post-indictment, as Republicans rally to his defense including, crucially, conservative talkers on Fox News Trumps opponents are confronting an even more damaging dynamic in race: their inability to break through at all. | Alex Wong/Getty Images

With the volume blaring on The Donald Trump Show, other Republican presidential hopefuls are struggling to make any noise of their own.

In the span of a week, Nikki Haley, former United Nations ambassador, campaigning at the U.S.-Mexico border, complained that no one is talking about immigration because of the focus on Trumps political drama. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeos trip to Ukraine was reduced to a blip on the media landscape, while Ron DeSantis avoided the spectacle and instead revived his war with Disney.

On the same day Trump was indicted in an alleged hush money scheme, the Florida governor was posing with puppies at a pet adoption event as his aides instructed reporters to leave.

This is deja vu all over again, said Terry Sullivan, who ran Marco Rubios 2016 campaign for president. Trump dominates media coverage, making it impossible for his competitors to get any coverage or forward traction.

The Republican presidential primary was always expected to revolve around Trump. But post-indictment, as Republicans rally to his defense including, crucially, conservative talkers on Fox News Trumps opponents are confronting an even more damaging dynamic in race: Their inability to break through at all.

It feels like fucking 2016, said a Republican strategist who supports DeSantis and was granted anonymity to speak freely about the dynamics of the race. Is there anything that can suck up as much political oxygen in the American political landscape as Trump? I dont think so.

Far from cable TVs focus on Trumps indictment, DeSantis has been plowing ahead with a political operation that resembles the early stages of a presidential campaign. But during the final weeks of Floridas jam-packed legislation session the backdrop against which DeSantis is preparing his case for taking his local conservative agenda nationwide the governor hasnt gotten a fraction of the attention Trump has. Visiting Long Island recently to promote his record and his book, he was greeted by a number of New Yorkers in MAGA hats and a sign that read DeSantis 2028, suggesting he get out of Trumps way in 2024.

One man in the DeSantis-friendly audience repeatedly shouted Trump! before being escorted out of the museum where DeSantis spoke. Nearly all of the attendees POLITICO interviewed spoke favorably about DeSantis, but said they are already committed to supporting the ex-presidents comeback bid.

To Republicans who saw Trump steamroll through the primary in 2016, its all beginning to look like a rerun. And largely helpless to do anything about Trump on their own, they have been venting frustrations increasingly at the media.

Whats frustrating to me is we didnt learn a damn thing from 2015 and 2016 when it comes to just giving him absolute, roadblock media coverage, said David Kochel, a veteran of six Republican presidential campaigns. I get it, its a big story. But this was getting covered like the opening of the war in Iraq or the O.J. chase. You couldnt escape it.

He said upcoming debates, cattle calls and other events during the campaign will give everybody an equal footing, an opportunity to drive their own coverage. But for now, he said, there isnt much any Trump rival can do.

I dont know that theres a strategy anybody could employ, he said. Maybe try shooting somebody on Fifth Avenue.

Left unsaid was that many of the GOP contenders owe their careers to the man they are now wishcasting away. Mike Pence was Trumps vice president, Pompeo served as his CIA director and secretary of state and Haley, who had been governor of South Carolina, was elevated as his United Nations ambassador. Trump often laments DeSantis disloyalty, saying he was trailing his opponent before Trump endorsed him in 2018.

One GOP Congressional staffer, granted anonymity to describe sensitive discussions about the campaign, said that in the current climate, everybody is worried about DeSantis chances.

Most people are quietly watching from the sidelines, praying that he puts it together, the person said.

While hoping for the Trump saturation to ease, his opponents are putting on a brave face and working at the edges to draw attention to themselves. Without yet announcing his candidacy something expected shortly after the legislative session ends in the coming weeks DeSantis is putting together endorsements. And in pleas to donors, he has been pitching himself as a low-drama version of Trump. Meanwhile a PAC formed to bolster his candidacy has reportedly raised $30 million so far.

DeSantis traversed the Northeast in recent days to tout his book, then delivered an hour-long speech to a Republican group in Michigan and addressed the Christian liberal arts Hillsdale College about his record in Florida. Later this month he is planning to visit Israel a significant overseas trip for any presidential contender.

An adviser to Haleys campaign, granted anonymity to talk candidly about the situation, acknowledged that theres no question this week Trump was getting the bulk of the coverage.

But Haley plowed ahead with her previously planned trip to the border last Monday. Her event received conservative media coverage, despite many mainstream news outlets remaining squarely focused on Trumps looming arraignment. Haleys border visit and Fox News interview about it appeared on the networks shows nine times that day, and then five more times on Tuesday.

Her campaign last week was conscious of timing, the adviser said, noting that it would have been foolish to announce Haleys $11 million first-quarter fundraising haul on Tuesday when Trumps arraignment was receiving wall to wall coverage. So they waited until Wednesday to drop the news and were pleased with the level of national media coverage they received, the adviser said.

Ken Farnaso, spokesperson for Haleys campaign, said her strategy has not changed at all given the Trump indictment, and her focus continues to be on holding frequent events in the early primary states.

Perhaps of all the other Republicans in the field, biotech entrepreneur and Woke Inc. author Vivek Ramaswamy has leaned most into the Trump campaigns messaging on the prosecution. While some candidates, including DeSantis, hesitated to weigh in after news broke of a forthcoming indictment, Ramaswamy jumped to decry the case and hasnt stopped since.

But he is still trying to capture his own audience, too. Last week, he launched a new daily podcast from a high-end, newly built studio in his Columbus campaign headquarters. This week, he will set out across New Hampshire on a 10-county tour, traveling in a decaled bus emblazoned with his headshot.

Sen. Tim Scott, whose advisers formally announced his upcoming swing to Iowa and New Hampshire just moments before Trump entered the courthouse on Tuesday, will visit those early states this week. Haley will spend three days in Iowa, and Pence, the former vice president, is set to speak this weekend at both the National Rifle Association annual conference and a closed-door gathering of Republican National Committee donors.

Its possible that attention will shift eventually to those candidates. Campaigning is not yet in full-swing in early primary states, and the candidates are still months away from their first debate.

Several people supportive of or close to DeSantis, who routinely polls as the leading alternative to Trump, said members of his team are privately projecting confidence in their methodical strategy, and not betraying any worries about Trumps consuming presence in the field.

Im not worried at all. I think theres a bunch of hand-wringing from some nervous nellies prematurely, said Jason Roe, a Michigan-based Republican strategist who worked for Rubio.

Roe, who speaks favorably about DeSantis but hasnt decided who to support yet, said time is in the governors favor the Republican Partys first primary caucus in Iowa is still 10 months away.

Right now no one occupies the stage except Trump, Roe said. The dust has to settle.

At some point does all the chaos surrounding him create an opening for a candidate like DeSantis? he said.

Then, mulling over his own question, he added, I want to remain optimistic.

Alex Isenstadt and Gary Fineout contributed to this report.

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As Trump dominates the airwaves, 'it feels like f--king 2016' - POLITICO

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Donald Trump attend a welcoming ceremony November 9, 2017 in Beijing, China.

During the four years that Donald Trump occupied the White House, the state-owned Industrial and Commercial Bank of China paid him an estimated $7 million to rent space in Trump Tower. Despite the extraordinary circumstances of the dealinvolving the government of China, the president of the United States, and millions of dollarsthe Trump family portrayed the agreement as a standard business transaction. Previously unreported documents call that characterization into question.

Lending records show that that the Chinese bank abandoned Trump Tower around the time Trump left the White House. The banks departure seemed to come suddenly, in the first half of 2021 and less than two years after the bank exercised what Eric Trump, the former presidents son, described as a five-year extension. Its hard to consider either of those developmentsthe lease extension or the sudden departurewithout wondering whether China was trying to curry favor.

Theres no evidence that geopolitics played a role in the deal at first. Reports of the arrangement surfaced in September 2008, when Trump was merely a real estate developer, eager to tout some good news amid troubled times. It is a great honor to house one of the worlds finest banking institutions in Trump Tower, he told Real Estate Weekly at the time. We look forward to a long and happy relationship with them.

It was a lucrative deal for Trump. A 2012 debt prospectus noted that ICBC was the second-largest tenant in Trump Tower, leasing 20,000 square feet for about $1.9 million a year, paying a higher price per square foot than other office tenants in the building. Ill show you the Industrial Bank of China, Trump told three Forbes journalists in 2015, when he was leading polls for the Republican presidential nominationand still keeping a close eye on his business. I have the best tenants in the world in this building.

Three years later, ICBC signed a new deal to lease space in a non-Trump building on Sixth Avenue, securing 99,000 square feet, or roughly five times its footprint at Trump Tower. With ICBCs lease set to expire in 2019, according to the prospectus, it would have made sense if the bank departed Trumps building at that point.

But the Trump Tower lease was no longer a typical business deal. Trump was in the White House, waging a massive trade war with China. The roughly $2 million of annual Trump Tower rent had turned into a constitutional concern, given that the Emoluments Clause prohibits the president from accepting various benefits from foreign governments. The deal had also become a strange example of collaboration between China and the United States, one that Americas adversary had reason to maintain while it continued to negotiate far more consequential matters.

ICBC ended up staying in Trump Tower. Weeks before the banks lease had been set to expire, Eric Trump explained on stage at a conference that the bank was keeping a couple of floors, noting that its lease had come with two five-year options to renew. The younger Trump ignored questions about why the bank would need the space, given that it had just signed a much-bigger lease in the same neighborhood. I dont think there is anybody that has been tougher on China in the world than my father, he said.

In 2021, when Joe Biden took office, the Chinese bank apparently came to the conclusion that it was no longer the smartest idea to be renting space from Donald Trump. Representatives of ICBC and the Trump Organization did not respond to requests for comment for this story. Forbes did manage to connect with someone answering the phones at ICBCs branch in Queens. That person confirmed that ICBC no longer has any space in Trump Tower.

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China Paid Trump Millions In Rent. Then He Left The White House - Forbes

What started out looking like an almost reverential treatment at least by Saturday Night Live standards of the Easter holiday quickly gave way to a satirical monologue from former President Donald J. Trump, comparing his own recent indictment on 34 felony charges of falsifying business records to the victimization of Jesus.

This weekends S.N.L. broadcast, hosted by Molly Shannon and featuring the Jonas Brothers as musical guests, began with a recreation of the Last Supper, performed by its cast and featuring Mikey Day as Jesus.

Alas, one of you will betray me, Day told the other cast members playing the Disciples, adding: Though I have committed no crime, I will be arrested, tried and found guilty.

Enter James Austin Johnson, in his recurring role as Trump. Sound familiar? Johnson said, taking over the scene. A famous, wonderful man, arrested for no reason at all. If you havent put it together, folks, Im comparing myself to Jesus, again. And what better time than on his birthday, Easter.

Johnson continued, As we speak, I am being persecuted on a level the likes of which the world has never seen, even worse than the late, great Jesus. He pointed to other ways in which he felt he was comparable to Jesus, if not superior: He rose from the dead on the third day, Johnson said. I would have done it faster. Possibly two days. I think we could have done it a lot faster. He had a good mind for business. Water into wine pure profit. And he had big, big rallies just like me.

Similarly, Johnson said a lot of his followers got into trouble too: All because I told them exactly what Jesus would have said, Get very violent and start a war.

The holiday, Johnson said, had him excited to hide Easter eggs. I have many beautiful eggs from my time at the White House, he said. And now the Department of Justice is saying: Where are the eggs? We need the eggs back. But I hid them. Theyre my eggs. Theyre my eggs to take, OK?

As he wrapped up, Johnson struck one more comparison: Just like Jesus, all I did was be friendly to a sex worker, and now they want to put me in jail, he said.

Returning to host S.N.L. for only the second time since she left the program in 2001 (the first time was in 2007), Shannon was in no hurry to revisit the revered sketch characters she portrayed during her time on the show. If you waited until nearly the end of the night, though, you at last got this segment in which her high-kickin dancer Sally OMalley returned to become a choreographer for the Jonas Brothers. (The JoBros eventually shed their breakaway outfits to reveal they were wearing OMalley-esque red dresses, too.)

Earlier in the night, Shannons less heralded stand-up comic character Jeannie Darcy got an ad for her own, low-energy Netflix special. And a video segment from the Please Dont Destroy team paid tribute to Shannons convivial energy by imagining her as the unlikely protagonist of a video game (which Shannon herself tries to play).

Over at the Weekend Update desk, the anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che continued to riff on Trumps indictment.

Jost began:

The Wall Street Journal is calling on Russia to release one of their journalists, who was arrested on espionage charges. And I might have the perfect idea for a prisoner swap. [His screen shows a photograph of Trump in court.] Former President Trump was arraigned on Tuesday, and a photographer released this photo of Trump in the courtroom. And I dont like that hes flanked by an O.J. amount of lawyers. Because that tells me hes definitely guilty and that hes definitely getting away with it.

He continued:

Trumps lawyer Joe Tacopina, a.k.a. Phony Soprano, said he doesnt think Trump is going to get a fair trial in Manhattan, and I agree. Even the courtroom sketch artist seems to hate him. I thought Trump looked perfectly nice. He had blended his foundation. Stapled down his hair. But then he drew him like the mud monster from Scooby-Doo.

Che picked up the thread:

After his arraignment, Donald Trump spoke to supporters at Mar-a-Lago and said there was a very dark cloud over our beloved country. Which is also what he used to call Obama. Insiders are saying that since Donald Trumps indictment, his daughter Ivanka has been absent and his other daughter Tiffany is trying to take her place by his side. Just as soon as she gets through security.

Mining the latest developments in the conflict between Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida and the Walt Disney Company, Bowen Yang appeared at the Weekend Update desk as Jafar, the antagonist from Disneys animated musical Aladdin.

Affecting a very respectable Jonathan Freeman impersonation, Yang said that DeSantis was an amateur when it came to villainy: He has no rizz, no spark, no drip. Still, Yang said the governor was plenty evil, adding, I mean, banning Rosa Parks in schools? Im a dark sorcerer and even I was like, Jesus, dude, its Rosa Parks.

But if DeSantis wants to keep gay people out of Disney and its theme parks, Yang said, That carpet has flown, know what I mean? Besides, Yang added: Theres already a Disney World where nothing gay happens. Its called Six Flags.

You had to hang in there until the end of the episode to catch this, but it was worth staying up for: a fake commercial for a service called CNZen that is partly a news source and partly a meditation app but one thats intended for stressed-out people who have made hatred of Trump the basis of their entire personalities.

When needed, the app serves its users salient details about Trumps indictment and gentle voice-overs from CNN talent (and The New York Timess Maggie Haberman, played by Shannon). If you find yourself feeling lethargic at any time of day, Sarah Sherman as a whispery, wide-eyed Wolf Blitzer will either lull you to sleep or startle you back to full attention.

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'S.N.L.' Brings Donald Trump to the Last Supper for Easter Weekend - The New York Times

On December15, 2015, Donald Trump and eight other Republicans contending for their partys Presidential nomination met for their fifth debate, in Las Vegas. Trump set the tone, both with his bullying of Jeb Bush and in the discussion of his call, a week earlier, for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States. Rather than recoiling, his opponents tended to express understanding for Trumps perspective, while claiming theyd be more effective: Ted Cruz wanted a narrower ban; Ben Carson wanted government surveillance of mosques and supermarkets; Carly Fiorina wanted private companies to help with the spying. Rand Paul managed to warn people who supported Trump, Thinkdo you believe in the Constitution? Five years later, Paul was insinuating that Democrats had stolen the 2020 election from Trump.

On December4, 2023, Trump is due to be in a courtroom in Manhattan, for a pretrial hearing in the criminal case that Alvin Bragg, the New York County District Attorney, has brought against him on thirty-four counts of falsifying business records in the first degreea felony. Trump will also likely be preparing for what will be the fifth G.O.P. debate of this Presidential cycle, at a venue to be determined. The Republican National Committee recently announced that the first debate will take place in August, in Milwaukee. The exact date has not been set, but the R.N.C. might note that Judge Juan Merchan, who is presiding over Trumps case, has given his lawyers until August8th to file preliminary motions, which could include such matters as a request for a change of venue or for a dismissal.

Milwaukee was chosen because the Partys Convention will be in that city. Wisconsin went narrowly for Trump in 2016, and for Biden in 2020, and both parties have invested heavily in races there, most recently for the state Supreme Court. (The Democrat, Janet Protasiewicz, won decisively; abortion and redistricting were central issues.) In picking the other debate sites, the R.N.C. may now have to consider how logistically convenient it is for Trump to travel from the courthouse to the stageand how politically convenient, or disastrous, it will be for the other candidates to be asked about the proceedings.

Trump, in other words, must operate with two calendars in mindthe courts and the campaignsand so must much of the machinery of American politics. At his arraignment, on April4th, prosecutors indicated that a trial wouldnt begin until early next year; a number of Republican primaries will be in February. Should a judge, say, reschedule jury selection to account for them? The complexity will multiply if, as expected, Fani Willis, the D.A. for Fulton County, Georgia, brings charges related to Trumps efforts to overturn the states election results, and if Jack Smith, the special counsel, does so in connection with either Trumps actions ahead of the January 6th assault on the Capitol or his handling of government documents, or both. Those investigations might have their hearing calendars crowded by the one in New York. That would be unfortunate, as Braggs case is, by many measures, the flimsiest of them.

The indictment principally addresses the payment of a hundred and thirty thousand dollars, in October of 2016, to Stormy Daniels, an adult-movie star, allegedly for her silence about a consensual sexual encounter; such a payment is, in itself, not illegal. In contrast, the Georgia case involves the alleged procurement of fraudulent ballots and a phony certificate for the states sixteen electoral votes, which is most definitely illegal. (Trump denies any wrongdoing.) Bragg has charged that Trump had his lawyer Michael Cohen front the money for Daniels and then reimbursed him, in eleven payments, in a way that created thirty-four false business records (checks, invoices, ledger entries). Each might be a misdemeanor; what would make them a felony is an intent to defraud and commit or conceal another crime. Bragg has chosen not to specify what that other crime is yet, either in the indictment or in an accompanying statement of facts, other than to suggest that it has something to do with elections, or maybe taxesmaybe federal, maybe state, maybe an untested hybrid. (The underlying records case is also less tight than expected.) Ruth Marcus, in the Washington Post, detected a certain circularity in the linkages; she called the indictment disturbingly unilluminating.

It may seem unfair that voters didnt get to know about Daniels before the election, but withholding a candidates marital infidelities is not criminal election fraud. Braggs job as a prosecutor is to pull a legally recognizable charge from a haze of crookedness, and so far he has not done so. This omission is distinctly damaging when a good part of the country thinks that the case is a setup. Even if Bragg wins a convictionhis case could get strongeror another prosecutor does, there will likely be years of appeals ahead, with more hearings to schedule and conflicting dates to consider. One could be Inauguration Day. A felony convictioneven thirty-four of themdoes not disqualify Trump or anyone else from running for President. In 1920, EugeneV. Debs, the Socialist candidate, heard the election results while in federal prison; he had been convicted under the Espionage Act for speaking against the First World War. (His supporters printed badges with a picture of Debs in prison clothing; Trump, in a farcical echo, is selling T-shirts with a fake mug shot.)

Judge Merchan and his colleagues in other jurisdictions will have to make calls, too, about how to reasonably accommodate the electoral process. Profound constitutional issues come into play, as Merchan recognized in the arraignment hearing. After prosecutors raised the issue of derogatory and possibly threatening statements that Trump had made about Bragg and about the judge, Merchan said that he would not impose a gag orderat least, not yet. Such restraints are the most serious and least tolerable on First Amendment rights, he said, using the language of a 1976 Supreme Court decision. That does apply doubly to Mr. Trump, because he is a candidate for the Presidency of the United States.

Merchans observation is, in a way, as much about the voters rights as it is about Trumps. Candidacy does not confer impunity. But Trump will not be the last politician to be indicted by a prosecutor from an opposing political party, and this case may well set standards with which the country as a whole will have to live.

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How Will Donald Trump's Trial Play on the Campaign Trail? - The New Yorker