Former President Donald Trump said a religious revival was necessary in the United States.
Trump made his remarks during his Tuesday interview with podcaster Lex Fridman.
During the interview, the former president referenced a personal friend, who is an octogenarian, and their use of dark humor when discussing their mortality. Trump went on to say he believed those holding religious faith had a "better feeling" toward death.
“You’re supposed to go to heaven, ideally, not hell, but you’re supposed to go to heaven if you’re good,” Trump said. “I think our country’s missing a lot of religion. I think it really was a much better place with religion.” President Trump: "I think our country's missing a lot of religion. I think it was a much better place with religion. It was almost a guide... you want to be good to people. Without religion, there are no guardrails. I'd love to see us get back to more religion in this country." pic.twitter.com/Ns6iYuhdqN
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) September 3, 2024
“It was almost a guide,” he continued. “To a certain extent, it was a guide. You want to be good to people. Without religion, there are no guardrails. I’d love to see us get back to religion, more religion in this country.”
Trump, who has described himself as a Christian, said narrowly surviving an assassination attempt in July brought him closer to God during his X space with Elon Musk last month.
The former president said he immediately knew he had been hit in the ear, adding it was a "miracle" that his head was facing the direction of the shooter while showing an illegal immigration chart when he opened fire.
"For those people that don't believe in God, we gotta all start thinking about that," Trump said. "I'm a believer. Now I'm more of a believer, I think."
"If I hadn't turned my head, I would not be talking to you right now," Trump told Musk, joking that illegal immigration saved his life.
Trump also said he would be "inclined" to release the complete list of names of those who attended the island of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein during his interview with Fridman.
“It's just very strange for a lot of people that, the list of clients that went to the island has not been made public,” Fridman said.
“Yeah, it's very interesting, isn't it? It probably will be, by the way, probably,” Trump said, adding that he would “certainly take a look at it. … I'd be inclined to do the Epstein [release]. I'd have no problem with it.”
Trump also said he was committed to releasing information regarding the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
“Now, Kennedy is interesting because it's so many years ago, you know. They do that for danger too because, you know, it endangers certain people, et cetera, et cetera,” Trump said. “So, Kennedy is very different from the Epstein thing.”
