Even Richard III actually entered a church before his stunt.

[ehrnst]

Richard III; Act 3, scene 7 where Richard and Buckingham act out a false version of reality in which Richard is a god-fearing, self-effacing man.

"Be not spoke with you but by might suit. And look you get a prayer book in your hand."

[Aristus]

1. That was the fictional Richard III, created out of whole cloth by William Shakespeare.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge Shakespeare fan.

But the real Richard III has been turned into a monster by WS and others writing in the time of the granddaughter of the man who defeated Richard for the throne. Telling the admirable truth about Richard in the time of Elizabeth I would be tantamount to treason.

[ehrnst]

2. I understand. I think that it's interesting that Trump is following in the footsteps of

Shakespearean villain.

In Shakespeare's time, there was a real belief that leaders were put there by God, and that if the leader fucked up, especially after being warned against doing so, that the reverberations would be felt through the universe.

It's one reason that I worked at a Shakespeare repertory company in DC. Washington is the London of this era, and Shakespeare's warnings to powerful world leaders would fall on the ears of presidents, SCOTUS justices and representatives.