As of Labor Day weekend, Donald Trump’s average approval rating, as calculated by FiveThirtyEight, stands at 37.5 percent. At risk of sounding like a broken record, this is the lowest approval rating on record for a newly-elected president at this stage in his presidency.
But, again at risk of sounding like a broken record, the biggest reason that it’s even that high is because the religious right has been bullying its supporters into ignoring the almost daily outrages coming out of this White House. That bullying campaign has extended to the nation at large as well. In the wee hours of Thursday morning, one of the religious right’s loudest cheerleaders for Trump made that loud and clear. He warned his critics that those who dare call him out risk retribution from God himself.
Among the religious right pastors who are bowing down to Trump, Lance Wallnau is in a class by himself. To hear him talk, the opposition to Trump is driven by the spirit of witchcraft, since at bottom it wants to “control and intimidate, manipulate.” The media is supposedly using that same spirit to turn us against the Donald, and those who obey that spirit aren’t just resisting Trump–they’re resisting God.
People for the American Way’s Right Wing Watch noticed that early Thursday morning, Wallnau delivered one of his patented late-night messages to his followers on Periscope. to warn those–including yours truly–who have been calling him out that they need to watch themselves. His explanation? If we speak out against him, we’ll have to answer to a higher authority. Watch a clip here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ergiriMNjeU&feature=youtu.be&t=19m31s
Wallnau believes that Right Wing Watch and other religious right watchers are the definition of “fake news” and “dishonest” media. But he thinks Trump is being too kind–it’s more accurate to call them “dishonest.”
Later, he told his followers that God was “releasing reformation” into our institutions. As part of that reformation, he was going to expose an effort to engineer “the destruction of America,” led by those in “academia, big media, big politics, and big government” following the blueprint of Saul Alinsky.
He then thanked God for granting the church “the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man.” For that reason, he was willing to put himself out there “so the idiots on the left-wing blogs can record me and make fun of it.” He then delivered a sobering warning to these “idiots.”
“Frankly, if I was them, I’d be careful about what they make fun of, because I think we’re going to see God stretching out his hand. Once the church is in submission to the will of God and the anointing of God, I believe God is going to pluck the wheels off of Pharaoh’s chariots. And that means that God will extend his own hands toward his enemies.”
As usual, Wallnau was speaking in code. He was referring to how Pharaoh’s army tried to chase down the Israelites as they escaped from captivity–only to have God pull the wheels off their chariots. Cliff Notes version: if we don’t back off on our attacks against Wallnau, God will “extend his hands” toward us in retribution.
Okay, Lance. I’ll play. So you mean to tell me that if we call you out for suggesting that the Fox News sexual harassment scandal is a demonic trick, we’ll have to answer to God? If we call you out for denouncing efforts to impeach Trump for his outrages as “sabotage,” will we have to answer to God? If we call you out for giving succor to notorious troll and pedophilia apologist Milo Yiannopoulos, will we have to answer to God? And if we call you out for putting businessmen in a “Hook”-style “boo box” after they condemned Trump’s inadequate response to Charlottesville, will we have to answer to God? And on, and on, and on.
Apparently Wallnau is under the delusion that because God has chosen him to rally the faithful to Trump, no one has the right to speak out against him. After all, if we do so, we’re touching God’s anointed. Well, it’s long past time to disabuse Wallnau of that notion. He seems to forget that when you put yourself out in the open, you’re not just talking to people who will fawn over you. If you think you’re not going to get called on it, you’re delusional. And if you think we won’t notice that you’re still insisting we back Trump even after Charlottesville and the pardon of Joe Arpaio, you’re even more delusional.
Wallnau seems to think that if he warns us against speaking out against him and other fundie leaders, an explanation that we will have to answer to God will be enough to make us back off. Sorry, Lance. That explanation won’t work. We will persist. We will resist. And we will make sure that when Trump goes down, you and the other fundies propping him up go down with him.
(featured image courtesy Wallnau’s Facebook)
