TO millions of fanantical followers, there is a new trinity in American politics – God, guns and Donald Trump.
And to some, the controversial Republican candidate really is the chosen one.
Last Wednesday, as Trump took to the stage at the gigantic Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina, Hyung Jin “Sean” Moon would not have been anywhere else.
The pastor runs the Rod Of Iron Ministries — also known as the MAGA, or Make America Great Again, church — and his sect worships with AR-15 rifles by their sides.
Speaking to The Sun on Sunday as the excitement was building among the large crowd, moments before the 78-year-old took to the stage, he told us: “We believe that God has chosen Donald Trump and he preserved his life during that terrible assassination attempt that the whole world saw.
“He dodged that bullet by God’s grace, that 15-degree turn to the right saved his life and was God’s hand.
Moon, also known as King Bullet-head, added: “Trump stands for Christian principles but God doesn’t use perfect candidates — he just uses people who are on his side.
“We feel President Trump is standing up for Christian values and real Americana and we are so grateful.
“Even though he is not perfect he’s standing on the right side of history.
“My father was freed from a North Korean death camp and we fled from communism. We know what communism is and we don’t want it here.”
The pastor was not alone.
Thousands braved the humid 30C heat to try to attend the campaign rally for Trump’s 2024 presidential election campaign, officially titled President Donald J Trump’s Make America Great Again.
He was making his first appearance since President Joe Biden announced last weekend that he would not be seeking re-election.
Biden, 81, has since been replaced by his Vice President Kamala Harris as the likely Democrat nominee.
Trump gained superhero status among his supporters after surviving the would-be assassin’s bullet on July 13 when gunman Thomas Crooks shot him in the ear, killed 50-year-old spectator Corey Comperatore and seriously injured two other rally-goers in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Kimberly Cheatle, the head of the US Secret Service, which was in overall charge of protecting Trump, resigned on Tuesday over the failures.
She had angered a congressional hearing when she failed to explain how and why Crooks had been allowed to get on a roof and fire a volley of shots at Trump.
Despite the attack, the crowds came out in force again for the gathering in Charlotte’s main stadium at 2pm, ready for the man himself to arrive at 6pm.
But the 8,600-capacity stadium quickly filled up long before Trump’s motorcade arrived.
Some who tried to enter the packed arena could not deal with the heat and emergency services had to take away several of the Trump faithful for treatment.
And as he took to the stage, Trump, in typical fashion, made a point of bragging about the size of the crowd, saying: “I always say, and they never do it: turn the cameras round to show them the crowd — but they never do.”
The audience was full of his fans wearing their red Make America Great Again baseball caps — the ultimate symbol of Trump’s movement — which were on sale outside the stadium for $10.
Among the crowd-pleasing T-shirts was one emblazoned with the slogan, “I’m voting for the convicted felon” in reference to Trump’s historic criminal conviction in May.
Moon — who has followed Trump around the country and has condemned the Biden government as “a satanic cult of power” — is the son of Korean businessman Sun Myung Moon, who founded the Unification Church, whose followers are dubbed Moonies.
Moon Junior has set up his own offshoot and carved a name for himself among gun rights advocates.
He doesn’t wear the MAGA red cap, while his usual uniform is military-style cargo pants, matching shirt and crown of polished bullets — often with a gold AR-15 rifle, which he says is his firearm of choice, because “it’s a fine weapon”.
Every year he hosts the Rod Of Iron Freedom Festival, billed as America’s largest “open-carry” event — meaning guns are carried openly — and an annual gathering to celebrate America’s Second Amendment, the right to bear arms.
On Wednesday the 45-year-old father of five travelled 230 miles to the Trump rally from his home in Thorn Hill, Tennessee, in his Chevrolet Silverado monster truck, which is wrapped in Trump imagery and autographed by the former President’s son Don Jr.
Moon said: “We’re here to pray for the MAGA folks, the people who want to save America from the bureaucratic state. We are praying for a too-big-to-rig landslide victory for President Trump in November. We’re living in a very chaotic time but also a miraculous time.”
Moon’s thoughts about miracles were shared by mother and daughter Wendy and Calissa Gaechter, who also arrived at the rally but could not get in because the arena was full.
Wendy, 55, travelled from New Jersey to Charlotte, where her 22-year-old daughter works as a financial adviser.
She said: “I really think Trump is going to win. I think he is protected and there was divine intervention when that bullet missed. There is a reason why that happened.”
Tajuna Nichols, 45, a field supervisor in the utilities sector, originally from Memphis but living in Charlotte, was attending her first political rally.
Decked out in red Trump merchandise, she said she would be voting for him for the first time ever in the November election.
She said: “This is a once-in-a- lifetime thing. I don’t know if I will ever get this opportunity again, so I’m making the best of it.
“I like President Trump because he is not going to let anyone f*** over our country.
“He is going to make sure our country and our people are taken care of.”
Asked what she thinks, as a black woman, about claims that Trump is racist, she added: “I feel like they take his words and twist them to make it about racism because they want us to remain divided.
The only thing President Trump wants to do us save us
Tajuna Nichols
“They take what he says out of context. If you really know your history you would know the Democratic Party are the ones who tore our country to pieces.
“The only thing President Trump wants to do is save us.
“In my heart I feel that God gave us a sign that he is going to win when he survived that shooting.
“God had him turn his head for a reason. That fills me with hope that he is going to win and shock the nation.”
Todd Gerhart, 62, from Charleston, South Carolina, was selling $20 Make Honey Great Again jars of honey in the shape of Donald Trump.
He sells them in towns where Trump is campaigning, and was in Butler, Pennsylvania when Trump was shot on July 13.
Asked about the crazy developments of the last few weeks which saw Trump survive the attempt on his life and President Biden give up his hope of a second term after a disastrous TV debate with his rival, Gerhart said: “It’s been totally galvanising.”
Artist Dan Nelson, 70, was at the rally to sell prints of his oil painting of Trump’s now-famous fist pump after surviving the attack.
Bow tie-wearing Southern gent Nelson, from Raleigh, North Carolina, said: “If it’s a fair election it will be the landslide to end all landslides.
“These here ain’t rich folks, this is kind of a redneck crowd.
“These here are clearly country folks and here they are, bonkers for a New York billionaire.”
