The world collectively gasped last July when Donald Trump — a then-candidate vying for a historic second presidential term — was nearly assassinated on live television.
In a series of events too shocking to seem impromptu, Trump turned his head just slightly, enough to inadvertently prevent a bullet from entering his skull.
One of the most remarkable facets of miracles is the corroborative proof they provide for the existence of a loving God.
The bizarre incident took place while he was speaking at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. It was a moment that left many pondering whether the hand of God had protected Trump, a boisterous billionaire who suffered little more than a surface injury when the bullet merely grazed his ear.
“The world saw a miracle before their eyes,” conservative activist Rocío Cleveland
said at the time — and other spectators agreed. Then, when a second purported assassination attempt was thwarted not long after, miracle claims once again mounted.
Even first lady Melania Trump jumped into the mix,
telling Fox News that “both of the events, they were really miracles, if you really think about it.”
“July 13th, it was a miracle like that much,” she added. “And he could, you know, he could not be with us.”
Not everyone bought in to the miracle narrative, though. Media outlets quickly seized upon those making such claims, with the Guardian publishing a essay
titled “Christian right see God’s hand in Trump rally shooting: ‘The world saw a miracle.’”
And Politico
added its own flare into the collective with this headline: “Republicans embrace ‘divine intervention’ for Trump’s near-miss into martyrdom.”
But while some headlines seemed to be near-mocking or at least dismissing the idea that Trump’s shocking survival somehow had divine elements, even the president’s former doctor felt the scenario qualified as a miracle.
Dr. Ronny L. Jackson, who served as a White House doctor for Trump and other presidents, stressed in a statement that the would-be assassin’s bullet came less than a quarter of an inch from entering Trump’s head.
“I am extremely thankful his life was spared,” Jackson
said. “It is an absolute miracle he wasn’t killed.”
Regardless of whether Americans believe Trump’s survival was God-ordained or contend the claim is an absurdity, there are some factors worth unpacking. The moment came during a contentious and confounding time in America — an era during which moral confusion and a stunning turn back to faith seem to be coexisting.
At a time when people increasingly realize moral relativism is nonsensical and that something eternal is worthy of consideration, Trump’s Butler moment offered fodder for those who believe miracles are real and that God is still operating in the world.
And it provided something worthwhile to contemplate for those open to the eternal.
Even if people reject this miracle narrative in Trump’s case, there are other examples of healing and radical lifesaving events that simply can’t be ignored.
I’ve spent the past year and a half working on my new Christian Broadcasting Network documentary,
“Investigating the Supernatural: Miracles,” a film exploring miraculous claims that would leave even the most skeptical among us questioning if something more might be afoot.
Here’s why all of this matters: One of the most remarkable facets of miracles is the corroborative proof they provide for the existence of a loving God. If it’s true that people are being healed in inexplicable ways — and if those healings are being guided by the Lord — then that evidence must be taken into account.
Of course, most Americans have no problem with miracles. A Pew Research Center poll from 2010 found that 80% of adults believe in miracles, with other subsequent polls coming to similar conclusions. In 2016, a Barna poll found that 66% of Americans “believe people can be physically healed supernaturally by God.”
So miracles are widely accepted, yet many of us still want provable evidence that they’re real. That’s why I’ve traveled the nation exploring stunning claims of miraculous medical healings for
“Investigating the Supernatural: Miracles.”
The Trump debate aside, I discovered many ironclad cases of medical healings that leave little room for doubt that God is more than active in our world today.
Take Dr. Chauncey Crandall, for example — a respected cardiologist and internist who has witnessed extraordinary recoveries in his medical work. One of the most jaw-dropping? A man who was declared clinically dead for 40 minutes — only to come back to life.
As wild as it sounds, the case is thoroughly recorded and backed by evidence.
Then there’s Bryan Lapooh, a former police officer from New Jersey who spent 10 years paralyzed following a freak fall on ice. But after attending a prayer gathering, something inexplicable happened: He walked out of the building and has been fine ever since.
Those are just two examples. The accounts featured in “Investigating the Supernatural: Miracles” aren’t flimsy or hearsay — they’re medically documented, rigorously defended, and absolutely astonishing.
But just like Trump’s case — one in which innocent victim Corey Comperatore was tragically killed — there are tough questions that must be explored: Why do some get miracles and not others? How do miracles work in the modern era? And what, if anything, dictates who receives a miracle and who doesn’t?
We were forced to grapple with these queries as we traveled the nation to analyze and examine these remarkable stories, and what we found transformed us.
Watch
“Investigating the Supernatural: Miracles” today to discover a truly powerful narrative that will leave you thinking differently about faith, prayer, and the meaning of modern-day miracles.
God, Christianity, Miracles, Donald trump, Trump assassination attempt, Faith
