By any standard, Donald Trump’s presidency is tanking. As of Tuesday night, FiveThirtyEight pegs his average approval rating at 39.1 percent. Even at this stage, when a president with approval ratings that low, it’s time to call a code. Moreover, the furor over the firing of James Comey and the questions about his campaign’s links to Russia have spurred talk that he may have crossed into impeachment territory.
But to hear the religious right talk, it’s a lot of fuss over nothing. After all, Trump supposedly has the only vote that counts–that of Almighty God himself. Indeed, God was supposedly so determined to put Trump in office that he was the one who hacked the election for Trump, not the Kremlin. Recently, one of the most fanatically pro-Trump fundies told his followers that God is not about to let that work be undone, even in the face of the first calls for his removal.
Lance Wallnau has been one of the loudest fundie cheerleaders for the Donald. During the campaign, he declared that Trump had a “mantle” to win, and his victory would give Christians unprecedented influence over the cultural realm. Specifically, it would give Christians a golden chance to win control over the “Seven Mountains,” or forces, that influence the culture. Wallnau believes that Christians must gain control over those mountains in order to pave the way for Jesus’ return. He is one of the main intellectual forces behind the New Apostolic Reformation, an overtly fascist offshoot of the religious right that believes it can bring about the Second Coming by taking over the world and trampling any opposition standing in its way.
In the last three months, Wallnau has joined the rest of the religious right in trying to warn those against opposing Trump. He has peddled a number of explanations. Supposedly, witchcraft and the “progressive spirit” are one and the same, and that spirit is being fed by the media, who are taking advantage of the fact that a lot of people don’t have a proper “filter” on their brains.
He doubled down on this line in a Facebook message to his followers on Friday, in which he scoffed at any talk of Trump not surviving a full term. People for the American Way’s Right Wing Watch got a clip.
Wallnau harrumphed that Trump was only facing so much opposition because “people are crazy in this country.” He had predicted that everyone “from the pink hats to the foil hats to the crazy Berkeley activity” was going to try to push Trump out, and all of Trump’s foibles were going to be “amplified and distorted.”
But to hear Wallnau talk, we’re forgetting one thing–Trump got into office with a major assist from God. For that reason, Wallnau believes that God is not about to let Trump fall now.
“This man didn’t have a miracle getting him into office only to have him removed by what’s happening right now. So the quick word for you is he’s not going to be going anywhere.”
So why are Trump’s ratings tanking? Well, it’s because there’s a hydra-headed serpent spirit called “Leviathan” that “twists the meaning of words”–including Trump’s tweets. The only way to combat it is for more Christians to “be a force” in the mountains of media and government so they can sever the heads of Leviathan. He doesn’t think it’s an accident that Leviathan lives in a swamp.
He then claimed that even if Trump colluded with Russia and/or leaked material to the Kremlin, he didn’t break any laws. Never mind that it raises a question about whether he’s fit for office. That detail doesn’t matter–to Wallnau’s mind, the stink being raised about it is the Leviathan spirit at work–and therefore, “Trump’s not going anywhere.” To that end, he led his followers in prayer.
“In the name of Jesus, Father, I pray that you break the heads of Leviathan over media and political intrigue, that you’ll drain the swamp and that you’ll hit the establishment Republicans that are working to sabotage the president.”
He also prayed for Republican congressmen getting cold feet over Trump’s falling ratings, as well as for “backbone and strength” in the evangelicals who voted for Trump.
So let’s see if we’ve got this right. The millions of people who voted for Hillary, as well as those who now regret voting for Trump, are just crazy. The furor over Comey’s memo saying Trump tried to get him to end the investigation into Michael Flynn? It’s Leviathan at work. All the talk that he may have fired Comey to derail the Russia investigation? It’s Leviathan. The effect on Trump’s approval ratings? It’s Leviathan. And on, and on, and on.
These aren’t just alternative facts, folks. This is an alternative universe. As bad as Trump’s approval ratings are, the only reason he’s even at 39 percent is because white evangelicals still back him by well over 70 percent. I’d wondered how that was possible. Now I have part of my answer.
(featured image courtesy Wallnau’s Facebook)
