An electronic billboard in St Louis, Missouri has been pulled after it suggested that US president Donald Trump may be – wait for it… God himself!
The controversial campaign featured an image of the president and the Bible quote, “The Word became flesh….” and a play on Trump’s famed slogan, “Make the gospel great again”.
The quote, which comes from John 1:14, reads in full: “The word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
Some are taking the quote to infer that Trump is actually God. However, the out-of-home provider that operates the billboard, DDI Media, would not disclose who’d paid for the billboard in the first place or the meaning of the cryptic message.
The company did reveal the ad had been pulled down on Monday because of its political nature and the fact that it did not disclose the sponsoring organisation.
A DDI media spokesperson saying in a statement: “The ad did not meet our requirements for political ads and was taken down just a few days after it was placed. It is our policy to not disclose the identity of an advertiser without their authorisation.”
A Facebook page that has also since been removed, called ‘Make The Gospel Great Again’, claimed responsibility for the ad, but suggested it wasn’t inferring that the president was God incarnate – merely a messenger of the Big Man upstairs.
The post came with the message: “Just as King David liberated the faithful in his day, President Trump is doing this today through his protection of the unborn, defense of our land against foreign invaders and standing up for Israel.
“He surrounds himself with champions for Christian Rights – Mike Pence, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh. Compared to the disaster of a president we had in Obama, how is this not the “word become flesh” for Americans? As Christians we must not stand against God’s will despite the persecution we face for doing so.
However, local Missouri residents weren’t quite sure how to interpret the befuddling sign. “I didn’t know what to make of it,” local resident Sherri Chisholim told radio station KMOV.
“I didn’t know what message it was trying to send but I felt like it was somewhat offensive, I didn’t know if they were trying to equate Donald Trump to Jesus.”
