Evangelical 'prophets' have become top GOP surrogates waging 'spiritual warfare' against Dems: report

Prominent GOP candidates in the 2022 midterms are drawing support from people claiming to be "prophets" channeling the will of God.

On Saturday, The Washington Post reported on the growing trend that includes people like Lance Wallnau, who claimed in 2015 Donald Trump was "anointed" by God to be president.

"In July, Wallnau prayed over Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) before a cheering Atlanta arena audience," the newspaper reported. "By early September, he was at a conference outside Colorado Springs with Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO). And, a few days after that, here he was in the suburbs of Harrisburg, PA., for GOP gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano, whom he compared with George Washington at Valley Forge."

The newspaper says Wallnau's campaigning is part of a recent trend.

"All over the country this year, figures like Wallnau,hailing from the right wing of prophetic and charismatic Christianity, have been appearing with candidates as part of a growing U.S. religious phenomenon that emphasizes faith healing, the idea that divine signs and wonders are everywhere, and spiritual warfare," the newspaper reported. "This election cycle, Sean Feucht, a longhaired California prophetic figure and unsuccessful candidate for Congress in 2020, has appeared with Arizona gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake and Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO). Dan Cox, Maryland Republicans’ pick for governor, shared a stage with prophetess Julie Green. The events Wallnau attended included appearances by long-established right-wing prophetic figures including Dutch Sheets, Mario Murillo and Hank Kunneman."

Prior to the 2016 election, four million people viewed Wallnau's video titled, "Prophetic Word on Donald Trump."

The newspaper interviewed author Sarah Posner, the author of the 2008 book God's Profits: Faith, Fraud, and the Republican Crusade for Values Voters and the 2021 book Unholy: Why White Evangelicals Worship at the Altar of Donald Trump.

Posner said Trump changed everything.

“He made all of these B-listers and C-listers, he turned them into celebrities, hosting events at the White House where they’d sing songs and speak in tongues,” Posner said. “These changes in the charismatic world are becoming mainstreamed in evangelicalism.