Rihanna Teixeria, a 40-year-old Florida resident, self-published a book titled "Scriptural Evidence That Trump Is Set Apart by God: Biblical Proof that Trump Will Save America" that contains only blank pages. The satirical work sold 1,000 copies within two months, generating enough profit to pay off her $4,000 medical debt.
Inspiration Behind the Satire
Teixeria told HuffPost that the idea came from watching so-called "prophets" claim God chose Trump to save America. "There's prophets in that [religious] world that make prophetic videos about how Trump is being called by God to change and save the nation," she said. "So, because it's now been close to 10 years of [me] seeing the church idolize this man, it popped into my head. And because I could never wrap my head around what evidence they have. Like, to me, this guy is not representative of Jesus or Christianity as it's supposed to be at all."
Teixeria created the cover on Canva in a few hours and listed the book on Amazon in April 2024. She noted that most feedback has been positive, with many understanding the joke. One Amazon reviewer wrote: "I'm a doctoral student, and I know firsthand how intense, difficult, and, honestly, grueling quality research and writing can be. Yet, this book centers such rigor. The author meticulously combs the pages of the ancient text, and thoughtfully synthesizes the all of the evidence proving why our dear leader is truly anointed for such a time as this. And to her credit, when the evidence isn't robust enough, it's clear that she refused to include it. This is true scholarship. This is sound science. This is what real faith looks like. Kudos!"
Personal Background and Deconstruction
Teixeria grew up in the evangelical church in Arizona and attended a private Christian school. She voted for Trump in 2016 but began questioning her beliefs after asking church leaders to explain Trump's cabinet appointees. By 2017, she stopped attending church and now makes social media videos about deconstructing her faith. She has gone viral for explaining her journey.
She recalled that in her church, there was always pressure to vote conservative due to shared anti-abortion views and fears that the left would restrict Christian freedom. When Trump ran, her church explicitly instructed members to vote for him. Teixeria believes social media prophets like Kim Clement, whose YouTube channel still posts prophetic videos despite his death in 2016, had a significant impact.
Mental Health and Evolving Faith
Teixeria, who still identifies as Christian, is now in therapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder, specifically scrupulosity (religious OCD). She described childhood rituals like tapping her fingers to prevent loved ones from dying and avoiding leaving the house due to fear she had to pray for everyone she saw. "Because if I didn't, then they might go to hell and that would be my fault," she explained.
Her understanding of Jesus has also evolved. "In the evangelical church, he's always presented as this strong warrior, like a white American Jesus. And if I go back and I read the Gospels now with a different perspective, I see him just as a man who was against government and people who were thirsty for power, and I just see him as a man who cared for the sick and the hungry and the poor, regardless of political affiliation or nationality or gender or any of those things," she said. "I feel like I have a sweeter relationship with Jesus. He represented how we're supposed to be acting as Christians, which I feel like in America, we're acting like we just want all the power and to control people, when simultaneously we're voting for a man who's also cutting funding from the hungry and not protecting women and children and not protecting people in minority groups."
