Vance to campaign with far-right Christian nationalist who accused Harris of 'witchcraft'

27 September 2024

Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) is now scheduled to speak at an event hosted by a MAGA pastor who believes Vice President Kamala Harris practices "witchcraft" and that the United States is headed for another Civil War.

The Guardian reported Friday that Vance will appear alongside the self-described "prophet" Lance Wallnau in Monroeville Pennsylvania, as part of Wallnau's so-called "Courage Tour." The event itself is billed as a "town hall," though the Guardian's Alice Herman described a typical "Courage Tour" event as "faith healing and music in the morning, followed by a series of speakers preaching about the scourge of secular society and espousing their opposition to LGBTQ+ inclusion."

As Newsweek reported, Wallnau chalked up Harris' debate performance with former President Donald Trump to "witchcraft" and dark magic. He has previously referred to Trump as "God's Chaos Candidate," saying his presidency was divine providence.

"When I say 'witchcraft,' I am talking about what happened tonight. Occult-empowered deception, manipulation, and domination," Wallnau tweeted after the debate.

According to the Guardian, Wallnau is part of the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) sect of Christianity, which encourages fringe forms of worship like speaking in tongues and faith healing. He has also subscribed to the Christian nationalist "Seven Mountains" mandate, which declares that Christians take over seven key elements of society — the church, schools, families, the arts, media, business and government.

As Herman wrote, NAR practitioners believe in the concept of "spiritual warfare," which claims that key authority figures in government are secretly under the control of demonic forces. One group present at the January 6, 2021 siege of the U.S. Capitol was the "Jericho March," which has openly endorsed "spiritual warfare" doctrine.

“Spiritual warfare is the belief that a demon has taken up residence and is controlling anything from a large geographic space to a culture, to the White House or the Supreme Court,” scholar Karrie Gaspar-Hogewood told the Guardian.

In addition to his religious beliefs, Wallnau also believes that the U.S. is destined for another Civil War. He described it as an inevitable "fiery trial" between "believers and nations," and that this "crucible" will be "a ‘conflict’ of ideologies, often arms, to determine a victor in the power clash."

Vance, who is Catholic, has made remarks in the past suggesting he believes the Civil War is still raging. In a 2021 interview on a far-right podcast, the eventual 2024 Republican vice presidential nominee said that the new Civil War is between "Northern woke people" and "Southern Bourbons," with "hillbillies" deciding the winner.

"[T]he Northern Yankees are now the hyper-woke, coastal elites. The Southern Bourbons are sort of the same old-school Southern folks that have been around and influential in this country for 200 years," Vance said. "And it’s like the hillbillies have really started to migrate towards the Southern Bourbons instead of the Northern woke people. That’s just a fundamental thing that’s happening in American politics."

Click here to read the Guardian's report in full.

From Your Site Articles