Jon Voight ad video compares Trump to Jesus. Lincoln Project compares him to Nazi Germany.
Oscar-winning actor and MAGA champion Jon Voight issued has issued a video, shared by Donald Trump on social media, comparing the persecution of Jesus Christ to the prosecution of the former president.
In their own 1:08 ad, the anti-Trump Lincoln Project asserts Trump's rhetoric vowing a crackdown on government corruption and abuse is more akin to Nazi Germany.
Voight's 1:47-second spot starts with the father of also Oscar-wining actress Angelina Jolie bemoaning "there is too much hate" in American society. He cites the Biblical Book of Joshua and the New Testament and claims the former president “has been targeted for his information that can knock down the corrupt swamp."
Voight asks that viewers "believe" and adds that "the man that can help this nation. The one man that was ridiculed, destroyed as Jesus, Trump, can come back and save the American dream for all."
View John Voight's video about Trump by clicking here.
Voight is a longtime follower in Trump's Make America Great Again evangelical and revivalist political movement. In November 2019, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts by then-President Donald Trump.
Here are a couple local connections:
Voight was expected back at Mar-a-Lago this weekend as celebrity attendee at a philanthropic gala
On Sunday, a group called the World Series of Golf Foundation is sponsoring the charitable Hero Gala at Trump's club. The featured performer is tenor Andrea Bocelli.
The event's website at one point listed Voight as a participant along with other MAGA-verse personalities like Trump attorney Alina Habba, but both of their names and photos have been removed.
Voight did attend, receive award at 2019 Trumpettes bash at Mar-a-Lago
Voight was the guest of honor at the Trump fan club Trumpettes' second-ever party in February 2019.
"I'm here to support Donald J. Trump!" Voight said at the gathering. "And I'm meeting new friends who are showing their support."
Voight received the club's American Patriot award from Toni Holt Kramer, Trumpettes co-counder and a Mar-a-Lago member.
During his acceptance remarks, Voight segued into a soliloquy on spirituality and God. Voight talked about prayer, meeting Mother Teresa as well as a follower of Yogi guru Mahavatar Babaji.
He ended by saying that Trump and his supporters were the light pushing away the darkness.
Anti-Trump group Lincoln Project counters with their own commercial
The Lincoln Project issued a new ad Friday in which they juxtaposed Trump's stump speech promises to attack government corruption, the "corrupt swamp" as Voight and others have said using Trump's catch phrase, against black-and-white news reel footage from Nazi Germany.
The ad notes that "we've heard the kind of promises" Trump has been making. It then employs audio of Trump promising to root out rogue bureaucrats, clear out the national and intelligence networks, go after people who leak to the media and establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
It then ends: "We've heard the kind of promises Donald Trump is making before. But last time they were in German."
Antonio Fins is a politics and business editor at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at afins@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Jon Voight compares Trump to Jesus, Lincoln Project compares him to Nazis
