From “The Bible According to Christian Nationalists: Exploiting Scripture for Political Power” by Brian Kaylor
None of the preachers or pundits pushing this connection seemed to grapple with the theological implications. Their argument went that since Trump had survived the assassination attempt at 6:11 p.m. and Ephesians 6:11 talks about the “armor of God,” that shows God saved Trump. But if God meant to send that sign to us, then it would also mean that God didn’t merely “save” Trump at that time but also orchestrated it all to make sure Trump was shot at that very time! Additionally, the fact that Trump was hit in the ear would suggest the “helmet of salvation” has a weak spot, which isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement.
Beyond blaming God for shooting Trump at that time, other problems also arise from reading the Bible like a Ouija board. No one ever explained why the corresponding verse had to be from the Letter to the Ephesians. There’s nothing connecting that book to the time or place of the incident. There are dozens of books with an eleventh verse in the sixth chapter. They chose Ephesians 6:11 not merely because of the timing but because they liked the message they could use to frame the moment. Such an approach to biblical “interpretation” is so malleable as to allow someone to flip through from book to book until they find a verse to fit their preconceived beliefs. That’s not God speaking in mysterious ways like Miss Cleo; that’s abusing the BIble for politics. We could just as easily – and ridiculously – turn to Amos 6:11 to interpret this as a sign predicting the fall of the house of Trump: “For the LORD commands: The large house will be smashed to pieces, and the small house to rubble.” The word of God for the People of God…