Trump Spiritual Adviser Warns Against Opposing Trump, Explains That We’re Opposing God Himself (VIDEO)


As of Monday afternoon, Donald Trump’s average approval rating, as calculated by FiveThirtyEight, is 37.2 percent–easily the lowest on record for a newly-elected president at this stage in his presidency. But as bad as these numbers are, there’s ample evidence that they’re heavily inflated. After all, the biggest reason Trump’s approval ratings are even that high is because the religious right has been bullying white evangelicals into supporting him.

Depending on the source, at last report anywhere from 73 to 78 percent of white evangelicals approve of Trump’s job performance. In all likelihood, it’s because the nation’s so-called moral guardians have convinced them that the resistance to Trump is being driven by witchcraft, demons, and the devil himself. As this theory goes, if you oppose Trump, you’re not only opposing God’s plan for America, but you may be committing sedition.

Well, on Monday, this bullying campaign ramped up to another level. Trump’s principal spiritual adviser declared that opposition to the Donald is tantamount to opposition to God himself.

Much of Trump’s fundie support during the campaign came from prosperity gospel preachers. In a sense, it was rather fitting–after all, these preachers deliver a message centered around the idea that God wants you rich, so it was expected that they flock to a guy who is the definition of an entitled one-percenter. One of them was Paula White, who has been a close friend of Trump for over 15 years.

White got richly rewarded for her support. She was not only named as Trump’s principal spiritual adviser, but became the first woman to offer an invocation at a presidential inauguration. That prayer, however, sent a chill down a lot of spines. She closed it by praying that under Trump’s watch, this country would be “a true hope for humankind.” Um, Paula? You should know that Jesus is the true hope for humankind–not any one person or nation.

But that was pat-a-cake stuff compared to what she said on Monday’s edition of “The Jim Bakker Show.” People for the American Way’s Right Wing Watch got a clip.

White was on hand with her husband, Jonathan Cain–best known as the piano player for Journey. About 26 minutes into the show, White was in the midst of talking about a common thing in recent months among hypercharismatics who worship Trump–the idea that God is raising up an “Esther movement” of right-wing women. While pointing out that Esther didn’t fit the stereotype of someone God would use, she started talking about how Trump fit that mold as well because many people don’t think he “looks” presidential.

But White saw it as a plus.

“Thank goodness. Thank goodness. Thank goodness. And I mean that with all due respect, because in other words, he’s not a ‘polished politician.’ In other words, he’s authentically, whether you like it or not, he’s been raised up by God–because God says that he raises up and places all people in all places of authority. It is God that raises up a king. It is God that sets one down. And so when you fight against the plan of God, you’re fighting against the hand of God.”

White was speaking in code–a code that most of Bakker’s audience easily recognized. Supposeedly, it was God’s plan to put Trump in office–so if you oppose the Donald, you might as well be opposing God himself.


Okay, Paula. I’ll play. I’m charismatic/Pentecostal like you. I know God uses people who don’t fit the usual mold. But we have to have some discernment–and some basic standards. Maybe it’s just me, but it doesn’t seem that God is in the habit of using people who plaster private cell phone numbers on social media, mock the disabled, and revel in degrading women. And it seems hard to believe that God’s hand would be on a candidate who, at a minimum, fostered an environment in which is was remotely possible for his campaign chairman to ask a hostile foreign government for dirt on his opponent.

And that’s before we discuss the 500-pound gorilla in the room. This program aired eight days after Trump declared publicly that there was “blame on both sides” in Charlottesville–forgetting that one of those sides was made up almost entirely of neo-Nazis and white supremacists.  At best, he is morally blind in a way that a president simply cannot be. At worst, he was pandering to some of the worst people in the world. What does it say about White that she is still willing to carry water for Trump after this shameful display? You would have thought that White would be encouraging Trump to unify the country, not toss out red meat.

Oh, that’s right. None of that matters as much as rolling back abortion and marriage equality. Just in case we forgot, White and Bakker loudly reminded us of this a few minutes later. White recalled that when God led the Israelites out of Egypt, he told them–not asked them–to “go possess.” She believes that Christians have the same mandate.

“We were not sent into this earth to fit in, or just to sit here, to be a part. We were sent here to take over.”

That set Bakker off. He declared that this was exactly why Trump was in office–“he doesn’t fit!”As he saw it, it was fitting that a president who didn’t fit was being advised by a pastor like White, who went from having a rough childhood to having “full access” to the president of the United States.

Bakker then told the audience one big reason we should still be behind Trump–abortion.

“He gave us a president who says we’re not going to murder babies. You can’t be blessed and murder 50 million babies! You can’t, you can’t, you can’t, you can’t!”

There was another reason too–Trump’s executive order on religious liberty. Trump gave the pen with which he signed that order to White. As Bakker waved the pen in the air, he claimed that this marked the end of years of government hostility from the church. With that order, Bakker said, Trump had effectively declared, “As long as I am president, no more ground!”

So all of that matters more than the fact that we have a president who thinks men who fought to tear this nation apart belong on the same plane as men who built it? Or that there are two sides to an issue where one of those sides is made up mostly of Nazis. Lovely.

Sounds like God is using Trump after all–to reveal to the rest of this country that Bakker, White, and others of their ilk have made social issues a golden calf. That’s about the only thing you can conclude if they’re still willing to carry water for a president who proved beyond any doubt last week that he is morally bankrupt.

I know of a few pastors who are staunch Trump supporters. And yet, they would never, ever, ever, tell you that you oppose God if you oppose Trump. That would have been the case long before Charlottesville. Any pastor who says this, especially post-Charlottesville, has disqualified himself or herself as a pastor. Not only are they not being peaceful, but they are not setting a good example for their flock.


If you’re reading this and you attend White’s church, New Destiny Christian Center in Apopka, Florida, get out! You’re being led by a woman who has forfeited any authority to lead you by standing behind a president who has disqualified himself.

(featured image courtesy White’s Facebook)

Darrell is a 30-something graduate of the University of North Carolina who considers himself a journalist of the old school. An attempt to turn him into a member of the religious right in college only succeeded in turning him into the religious right's worst nightmare--a charismatic Christian who is an unapologetic liberal. His desire to stand up for those who have been scared into silence only increased when he survived an abusive three-year marriage. You may know him on Daily Kos as Christian Dem in NC. Follow him on Twitter @DarrellLucus or connect with him on Facebook. Click here to buy Darrell a Mello Yello.