The FiveThirtyEight Team Goes To Iowa

CEDAR FALLS — Our car pulled into the parking lot of the University of Northern Iowa’s West Gym before Donald Trump’s rally here, and pretty much the first thing we saw was this truck with a massive painting of Donald Trump sporting some snazzy purple-ish hair and a bald eagle grasping the American flag in its talons. It was an arresting visual, so we knew we needed to talk to the man at the wheel of the truck, Julian Raven, an artist and preacher from Elmira, New York, who also turned out to be the painting’s creator. Where’s Elmira? It’s on the border with Pennsylvania. I’m an artist by trade and an Evangelical minister by vocation. Do you preach in Elmira? I preach wherever God has me go. Right now it’s here. That’s why I’m in Iowa, trying to win the evangelical vote for Mr. Trump. What inspired you to paint the mural directly on the truck? It’s not a mural, the original painting is inside the truck. I photographed it. The inspiration for it is actually the question [that’s painted on the truck]: “Could God be voting for Trump?” It’s a remarkable story. The manner in which I was inspired, I’m going to try to summarize it for you. On Jul. 19, 2015, I got a picture in my head, unafraid and unashamed, of an eagle swooping down and grabbing a flag. And that image I meditated on for a month. This is in your head, the eagle? Yes, I’m an artist, I have thousands of images in my head. And as a Christian, you also have visions. As a Christian, as a minister, you want to know, is this just inspiration? A month later, on Aug. 17, I had this great pressure inside me to make this painting. I’m busy with other projects and I’m trying to find the right expression of an eagle landing on the water and then grabbing a fish and flying out — that would be great. My daughter walks up, 13 years old, and she says, “Dad, what are you doing? Are you going to make a sculpture of an eagle?” And I say no, and she walks out of the room and turns around walks back and says, “Dad, maybe you should make a painting of Donald Trump before he becomes president.” My children have spoken prophetically before. It’s not a surprise. It doesn’t happen all the time, but when it happens it’s so far out of left field. My 13-year-old comes up, has no idea what I’m painting. And the next morning and I turn on the news and see Mr. Trump. [Raven is referring to a photo shoot Trump did with an eagle for Time magazine.] Are you going into the rally? I’m not going inside. I need to protect the truck.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

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