US President Donald Trump has recently brought the divine into the equation as he broached the subject of rebuilding the US economy after the COVID-19 pandemic.
During a recent campaign stop in Minnesota, Trump lamented how, even though they "built the greatest economy in the history of the world", he now has to do it again.
"You know what that is?" Trump asked as he addressed those in attendance. 'That’s God testing me. He said, ‘You know, you did it once.’ And I said, ‘Did I do a great job, God? I’m the only one that could do it. And he said said, ‘That, you shouldn’t say. Now we’re going to have you do it again".
President Trump on rebuilding the economy after the Pandemic:
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) August 17, 2020
"That's God Testing me" pic.twitter.com/AWeTxCYqdm
As Trump's joke elicited laughs from some members of the audience, the POTUS declared that he's up for that challenge, claiming that he did it once and that he's "doing it again" now.
The president's words evoked a somewhat mixed reaction online, as while some seemed to appreciate them, there seemed to be no shortage of people criticizing Trump either.
Gods not testing Trump, Trump IS THE TEST FOR MOST PEOPLE!!! https://t.co/6mjgzX1XlN pic.twitter.com/OfDniCDIWE
— Mark Wolfe 🇦🇺🇺🇸🌊🌊🌊🐺😎 (@wolfe7120) August 17, 2020
If any other person were talking about rebuilding the economy I’d think they were full of it. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt this good about a President being able to actually capable of doing it.#Trump2020 Restoring my faith! pic.twitter.com/rldXcxahcs
— Peter Lamoureux (@deepcow) August 18, 2020
He seems back to his old, joking self again. Relieved to see it. A lot going on plus the death of his brother. He’s an amazing man and Americans are lucky to have him fighting for us. 🇺🇸
— RMChance55 (@RChance55) August 17, 2020
LMAO .... Riiiiiiight pic.twitter.com/bt0D5xYmr1
— What's In A Name (@WhatIf_Chris) August 17, 2020
With the United States retaining its status as the country with the highest number of COVID-19 infected in the world, the US economy shrank by 5 percent in the first three months of 2020 and by nearly 33 percent in the second quarter as most of the country's states went into lockdown in a bid to curb the spread of the virus, resulting in probably the worst recession in US history.