For most of the last two months, some of the leading voices on the religious right have delivered a sobering warning to Trump’s foes—particularly those among their followers who regret backing the Donald. To hear them talk, any opposition to Trump is driven by witchcraft and demons, and those who stand against the Donald are breaking divine law by standing against God’s plan for America.
So Trump’s outrages over the last month should have opened some eyes, right? Wrong. One of the religious right’s most prominent voices, Lance Wallnau, recently urged his followers to join him in prayer so Trump would have the strength to destroy his enemies.
Wallnau is one of the leading members of the New Apostolic Reformation, the overtly fascist offshoot of the religious right that seeks to bring about the Second Coming by taking over the world. On Thursday night, he took to Periscope to rally the troops.
People for the American Way focused heavily on how Wallnau urged his followers to fast and pray for God to strengthen Trump. Watch a clip here.
Specifically, he wanted his followers to pray that God would “turn the tables” on the “sabotaging, sniping, and snarling” elements that have arrayed themselves against Trump and seek to “embarrass and frustrate, expose, hinder and accuse” him.
Wallnau didn’t think it was an accident that this is happening during the Jewish feast of Purim—which commemorates the derailing of a planned massive pogrom of Jews living in the Persian Empire. For those who don’t remember the story, the Persian official Haman was planning to wipe out the Jews. But he reckoned without the queen, Esther, being Jewish—and when she alerted the king, he had Haman hanged on a gallows he’d built to hang a number of Jewish leaders. Wallnau implied that the same spirit that drove Haman is the same spirit driving the opposition to Trump.
It’s too bad that PFAW’s clip ended there, because afterward Wallnau launched into a prayer that is downright bonechilling, even by NAR standards. However, I noticed it. As I mention at Liberal America, Wallnau prayed that “the comedians that mock” and those churning out “the news that is fake” face God’s wrath—and fall into “the pit that they’ve dug” for Trump. He also prayed for “a sudden seizing” in the media that would allow God to “put your people in the gates of influence.”
Wallnau was speaking in code. He is the main strategist behind the “Seven Mountains strategy,” which calls for Christians to take over the seven forces, or “mountains,” that influence our culture—one of which is the media. His followers understood—and also understood the reference Wallnau was making to the anti-Trump references sharing the same mentality as Haman. Here are some comments from those watching.
“They are coming down! Save them if possible but if not Lord, remove.”
“shut up the mouths of the lions”
“Yes, if they resist the Grace that has been offered, they will be publicly hung”
“shut up the mouth of the accusers”
“Yes Lord! They gotta go they gotta go”
“May the enemy fall into their own traps”
“Yes! Jesus! Turn the tables on the Hamans! Let them hang on their own gallows that they set up”
This, friends, is how these Christofascists speak when they think no one is paying attention. But we are. And we will remember when Trump goes down—because Wallnau and friends are going down with him.