Is the magic back in D.C.? It depends on who you ask.
Despite efforts from a growing online community of witches who attempted to use dark magic to influence the 2024 U.S. presidential election, Donald Trump emerged victorious once again.
Leading up to the election, the witch community had rallied against Trump, casting spells, performing rituals, and even calling upon various pagan deities in an attempt to sway voters or disrupt his path to the White House.
On social media platforms like TikTok, practitioners of witchcraft shared videos and posts showing their attempts to cast spells on Trump and his supporters. One viral TikTok featured a user performing a ritual to "sacrifice JD Vance’s soul to Dharmaraja," a practice involving candles, an idol, and an open book.
In another video titled “How to Hex a Rapist,” the user made more pointed efforts and performed an occult ritual using lipstick to draw symbols in front of a photo of Trump.
In the comments, users expressed both support and frustration. One commenter, @That_One_Adam, joked, “Can someone just summon the absolute worst deity, demon, god, creature, etc.? Why not?” Another dozen users liked a comment which read simply, “HAIL SATAN,” in an apparent nod to their hope that hexes might succeed in derailing Trump’s campaign
However, not all witches were convinced their efforts were working.
Last month, Christian worship singer and activist Sean Feucht shared a post from the Reddit forum “r/WitchesVsPatriarchy,” in which one user admitted that spells targeting Trump had been "less effective than expected." They speculated that Trump might be under some form of magical protection, making it harder to penetrate their curses.
"We’ve been trying everything — banishing, binding, even freezer spells," they wrote. "But nothing sticks."
Others suggested that Trump’s ego acts as a protective shield, prompting calls for witches to turn their focus on helping Vice President Kamala Harris instead.
The president-elect made similar suggestions himself in the wake of at least two failed assassination attempts, and has repeatedly stated that he believes God's divine intervention alone spared his life.
In an appearance on Fox News' late-night show "Gutfeld!" host Greg Gutfeld asked Trump if his repeated brushes with death have led him to reflect more on God, mortality and the afterlife.
"You bring up God, and you've almost been killed twice," Gutfeld said. "Do you think more about your own mortality and what happens after you move on?"
Trump acknowledged that the attempted assassination in Butler specifically renewed his focus on eternal matters.
"Not about mortality, but I do think more about God,” he said. “Butler was really the greatest of all miracles."
