Trump-loving pastor catches COVID-19 after insisting Christians 'don't have to' catch COVID-19

A right-wing pastor who insisted he would not catch the coronavirus has caught the coronavirus.

E.W. Jackson -- a talk radio host, former candidate for Virginia lieutenant governor and enthusiastic supporter of President Donald Trump -- told his congregation Sunday that he and his wife had been infected with COVID-19, reported the Friendly Atheist.

"I want to say that I’ve been out for the last several weeks, probably … because I was speaking somewhere else, and last week, I was out because I was tested positive for COVID-19," Jackson said. "I’m back, I’m healthy, I’m sound, I’m whole, praise God. I’m feeling good."

"My wife, of course, she got it from me," he added. "But she’s doing fine too, and she’s going to be back to work tomorrow."

Jackson insisted in March, in the early days of the pandemic, that Christians "don't have to" catch the potentially deadly virus, and he vowed to continue holding in-person church services in violation of Gov. Ralph Northam's social distancing mandates.

"I don’t have the coronavirus," Jackson said at the time. "I’m not going to get the coronavirus. I’m not going to give anybody the coronavirus, because I can’t get it, because I talked to God about it, and I’ve taken my vaccine. My vaccine is Psalm 91, and I am free from that mess."

"I read an article, and it was criticizing me, and part of it, they said, like, 'He acts like Christians can’t get the coronavirus,'" Jackson added. "Now I never said that. I never said that, because of course they can. But here’s what I’m saying: You don’t have to. If you guys believe in God, you don’t have to. Hallelujah, and if you don’t have to, then don’t."