JD Vance’s embrace of far-right Christian nationalists will reach a whole new level this weekend.
That’s when Donald Trump’s running mate is set to spend one of his final afternoons before Tuesday’s vice presidential debate by hosting a town hall with Lance Wallnau, a notorious conspiracist who recently praised the 2021 Capitol riot as “an election fraud intervention.”
Vance is set to appear alongside Wallnau at 1 p.m. Saturday, platforming the self-described “prophet” who said in earnest this month that Kamala Harris is a “Jezebel spirit” who uses “witchcraft” to emasculate Trump.
“She can look presidential and that’s—and we’ll get to this later—that’s the seduction of what I would say is witchcraft,” Wallnau said of Harris after her Sept. 10 debate. “That spirit, that occult spirit, is operating on her and through her.”
Wallnau, a 68-year-old televangelist based in Dallas, has hailed himself as the father of American Dominionism, the fringe political ideology that believes America should be a strictly Christian nation.
Wallnau regularly preaches about the importance of the “Seven Mountain Mandate,” which calls on Christians to wield their influence on the nation’s families, religion, education, media, entertainment, businesses, and, most importantly, its government. This, in theory, will allow Christians to “hold dominion” over society.
The far-right preacher has gone as far as calling Trump “God’s Cyrus,” referencing the Persian king who allowed the Jewish people to return to Israel and rebuild Jerusalem in the 6th century BCE—a story detailed in the Bible. Wallnau suggests Trump is a modern day version of the king, sent by God to save conservative Christians from their purported cultural exile.
Far-right evangelicals like Wallnau appeared ecstatic when Trump chose Vance as his running mate this summer. Vance has long embraced Christian nationalism—championing the movement’s stances on falling birthrates, abortion, and immigration—but the senator had not turned up to a public event with someone as radical as Wallnau during this campaign.
Among Wallnau’s most bizarre claims of late includes a “prophecy” he shared last year that claimed opponents of Trump would soon die suddenly and that Paul Pelosi’s nearly-fatal hammer attack was a hoax.
Wallnau seems to grift off this sort of fear-mongering. His website sells everything from shirts and hats to items like a $10 “7 Mountains” Christmas ornament, an “I Love Trump” lapel pin, and his book, God’s Chaos Code, which features Trump on its cover.
A spokesperson for Vance did not respond to questions emailed by the Daily Beast that asked why the senator decided to platform Wallnau. It’s unclear what topics the duo plans to discuss at their town hall, which is being held in Monroeville, a Pittsburgh suburb of 28,000 people.
Lance Wallnau hit the campaign trail to stump for Republican candidates in 2022, including the failed gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano in Pennsylvania.
Doug Kapustin/Getty Images
Wallnau is no stranger to the campaign trail. He spent the summer hopping around swing states like Arizona, Georgia, and Michigan on a speaking circuit he named “The Courage Tour.” He was also active in politics in 2022, traveling across the country to stump for Republicans in key races.
The Washington Post had a reporter covering one of Wallnau’s campaign stops two years ago. That journalist described him as “high-energy, chatty, and very anti-liberal, with a ribbon of conspiracy theories running through [him] like a less angry, scripture-citing Rush Limbaugh.”
