As Kamala Harris seized the lead in major swing states in polls that have Republicans staggering and Donald Trump enraged, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick announced an effort on Sunday in a quest to determine whether the former president's survival at a campaign rally shooting last month was an act of God or lucky break.
Patrick revealed in a post on X that he and Dr. Phil McGraw have teamed up for a television special that will explore the Texas Senate president's belief that God saved Trump from an early exit when he was clipped in the ear by a would-be assassin on a rooftop near the stage at the event in Pennsylvania.
Patrick said the show will air on the Trinity Broadcasting Network - or TBN - at 7 p.m. on Tuesday. The lieutenant governor said he proposed the appearance with Dr. Phil to Matt Crouch - the TBN chairman who Patrick described as a friend and also will appear on the broadcast that delves into the mystery at hand. Patrick contracted Crouch with the pitch.
"I asked if he would consider a show to talk about whether God spared the life of the president, as I believe, or was just a random act of incredible luck," Patrick explained. "Last Friday, I taped an hour with Matt, @DrPhil a pastor, and a news anchor about what the Bible says about God choosing our leaders and being involved in elections. There was no script or plan. None of us knew what the other was going to say beforehand. It will air on TBN during primetime this Tuesday, August 13, at 7 p.m. central. I think you may find it very interesting whether you are a believer or not."
Patrick included a photo with the TV special's crew. "On this topic, I felt like a pair of brown shoes in a room full of tuxedos with these four wise men."
McGraw took a hit last week from another Texan after secession group leader Daniel Miller appeared on his regular show. Dr. Phil called the prospect of states seceding from the U.S. "beyond belief" - and Miller responded by ripping McGraw as "delusional" for failing to comprehend how close the country is to civil war.
Viewers could be disappointed if they expect confrontation or controversy from the improvisational panel discussion that's set to air on the Christian cable network this week. The only realistic possible conclusion can be that there's no way to ever know if Trump's escape from death was an act of the divine or coincidence made possible by a shooter who was an amateur and missed the central target.
Patrick cited scriptures from the Old Testament last month when he contended that God saved Trump. The lieutenant governor suggested that people who didn't agree with the miracle theory couldn't possibly believe in God. But Patrick didn't sound as emphatic with the announcement on the appearance with Dr. Phil that's keeping open the possibility that Trump got lucky.
Dr. Phil and Patrick may have felt compelled to ponder whether God was directly responsible for a fireman who was shot to death at the rally where Trump was grazed. Based on Patrick's line of reasoning, Democrats could claim that Harris is leading the race for president after only three weeks as the candidate because God is on her side.
But Patrick has yet to explain how the quest for the truth on the miracle he envisions could possibly help a Trump campaign that could be in the infant stages of unraveling without any signs of a coherent message or plan to stop the bleeding to turn the race around. Trump's hasn't appeared to be concerned with God's potential involvement in the shooting. Patrick's focus on it could be a welcome decoy nonetheless for the growing appearance of a Trump campaign in serious trouble if not extreme distress.
As Patrick contemplated spiritual implications from the failed assassination, Harris widened her lead during the weekend in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania while pulling even with Trump in Arizona and Georgia.
The ABC News site FiveThirtyEight moved Harris to even in Arizona on Sunday after showing Trump up 0.2 percent the day before in the running average of the polling there. 538 showed Harris leading Trump by 1.1 percent in Pennsylvania on Sunday when she was up on the Republican by 2.3 percent in Wisconsin and 2.8 percent in Michigan. Harris led Trump by 1.8 percent in Wisconsin on Saturday.
Trump's lead in polls in Georgia had almost disappeared by Sunday when FiveThirtyEight showed him ahead by only 0.4 percent after being up there by 0.7 percent on Saturday. FiveThirtyEight upped the Harris lead in the national polling average on Saturday to 2.3 percent, where it remained today.
more to come ...
