The headlines for President Donald Trump have gone from bad to worse since the end of May. According to a June Gallup poll, Trump's approval rating took a sharp downturn after the nationwide protests against the death of George Floyd and is currently sitting at 38%, only three points above his lowest performance mark in 2017. Heavy criticism remains about how, at his Tulsa rally, he did not mention Floyd or other African Americans who lost their lives to police violence including Breonna Taylor and Rayshard Brooks. The only hint of a positive story for Trump in the midst of roiling racial tension is that Wanda Cooper-Jones, the mother of Ahmaud Arbery, said the president was "very compassionate" during their White House meeting at which she shared the tragic details of her son being gunned down in February while jogging in Brunswick, Georgia. Although Cooper-Jones has stated that she does not believe Trump's police reform executive order would be effective for a case like her son's, she did feel that Trump was concerned "for all families." Her sentiment regarding Trump is rare, however, as an NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll shows 88% of African Americans believe race relations have further declined since Floyd's killing.

Bad press is certainly nothing new for Trump in terms of how he is viewed by African Americans and other minorities, but the news of the forthcoming book by his niece Mary L. Trump more than likely hurts like a throbbing gut punch. The book title, "Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man," exposes the broken and dysfunctional relationships of the Trump clan, particularly the authoritarianism of Donald Trump's father and how his overbearing personality negatively affected Trump's childhood. Trump's legal team was not able to prevent the book from being published. According to reading summaries in media reports, Mary Trump claims that her uncle was psychologically stunted due to the rigidness and lack of empathy instilled in him from her grandfather.

As I was discussing the bombshell revelations in "Too Much and Never Enough" and the ongoing racial dissension under Trump's presidency with my mother, she provided a unique perspective that I had not considered. "What if Trump had a Damascus Road experience?" she said with a heavy dose of optimism. "What if God miraculously changed his heart?" Not too many people would think Trump could change at this stage of his life. He's 74 years old, belligerent and stubbornly set in his ways, but when my mother spoke of how God could still touch Trump, I immediately thought about Cooper-Jones' reaction to her talk with him. As a Black mother of a son who was killed by two White men, she felt Trump was genuinely concerned about the trauma her family is going through. Perhaps this is an opening that may soften Trump's heart, and a Damascus Road-like encounter would certainly transform him. The Damascus story in the ninth chapter of the book of Acts provides the account of the conversion of Paul, then known as Saul and a Pharisee, who was on a mission to slaughter the disciples of Christ. Paul was blinded by Jesus for three days, and when he received his sight, he became one of the most fervent apostles to preach the Gospel. My mother was making the point that, just as the scales fell from the eyes of Paul, Trump's eyes could be opened by God to be more sympathetic and understanding of the protests calling for change and social justice, something we agreed believers should pray for.

Trump has put up a resilient front to shield himself from the negative news that has followed him not just during his presidency but throughout his life as a public figure. The excerpts shared from his niece's book describe him as a hardened man ensnared by his own ego. Yet, if Trump were to truly repent for the hateful things he has said and done, God would show the same compassion to him as he did to Cooper-Jones.

Dr. Jessica A. Johnson is a lecturer in the English department at Ohio State University's Lima campus. Email her at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter: @JjSmojc. To find out more about Jessica Johnson and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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