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Christian Pastor Says ‘God Has Given Trump Authority to Take Out Kim Jong Un’ Just After Promoting ‘Countdown to the Apocalypse’

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Robert Jeffress Says He Supports ‘Assassination, Capital Punishment or Evil Punishment to Quell the Actions of Evildoers Like Kim Jong Un’

Texas Christian evangelical Robert Jeffress, an advisor to the President on matters of faith, Tuesday afternoon applauded Donald Trump‘s astonishingly violent rhetoric toward North Korea. “In the case of North Korea, God has given Trump authority to take out Kim Jong Un,” the megachurch pastor told The Washington Post.

“When it comes to how we should deal with evil doers, the Bible, in the book of Romans, is very clear: God has endowed rulers full power to use whatever means necessary — including war — to stop evil,” said Jeffress, who is both a Fox News contributor and, separately, hosts a syndicated religious TV show.

Romans 13 “gives the government to the authority to do whatever, whether it’s assassination, capital punishment or evil punishment to quell the actions of evildoers like Kim Jong Un,” Jeffress, who leads the 12,000 member First Baptist Church in Dallas, told the Post.

What Jeffress might not haver mentioned is just 12 hours earlier, he was advertising his “Countdown to the Apocalypse” series on his “Pathway to Victory” TV show. That show is broadcast across the nation and in 28 foreign countries. Jeffress also authored a book titled Countdown to the Apocalypse in 2015.

Pastor Jeffress’ 30-second commercial, which he posted to Twitter, opens with a wall of images including an LGBT pride flag, an ISIS flag, a photo of New York City’s Twin Towers in flames on 9/11, NYC police cars, a hand-written sign that says, “Education is a right! student debt is a crime!!” and other images which the evangelical pastor apparently thinks are signs of the apocalypse.

“We live in shocking times,” Jeffress in the voiceover of his ad says. “In our own country, moral confusion abounds. Could we be living in the end times?” he posits.

He says in his “Countdown to the Apocalypse” show, “we’re learning how to interpret current events in light of Biblical prophesy.”Â

In the background, an iconic image – taken in celebration of gay rights and same-sex marriage – of the White House lit in rainbow colors, a sign opposing “Christian fascists,” and more.

Is Jeffress is ginning up violent rhetoric and egging on the president to engage North Korea, possibly in nuclear war, in an effort to help his ratings?

Jeffress is closely linked to this White House. Hours before Trump was sworn in, Jeffress held a pre-inauguration private prayer service for the Trump and Pence families, and about 300 invited guests. He’s also served on Trump’s evangelical advisory board.

Jeffress has a long history of making anti-Muslim, anti-gay, anti-Mormon, and anti-Catholic remarks. He also has weighed in regularly on the nation’s politics, espousing a hate-filled far right wing viewpoint.

Just two days before the 2012 election, Jeffress said, “I am not saying that President Obama is the Antichrist, I am not saying that at all. One reason I know he’s not the Antichrist is the Antichrist is going to have much higher poll numbers when he comes. President Obama is not the Antichrist. But what I am saying is this: the course he is choosing to lead our nation is paving the way for the future reign of the Antichrist.”Â

Four years earlier, in 2008, Jeffress delivered a controversial sermon (audio here) titled, “Gay Is Not OK,” which featured this condemnation: “What they [homosexuals] do is filthy. It is so degrading that it is beyond description. And it is their filthy behavior that explains why they are so much more prone to disease.”

That same year, the Dallas Observer reported that Jeffress “said Mormon Mitt Romney was a member of a ‘cult’ and who, in September, said that ‘Christians are uniquely favored by God, [while] Mormons, Hindus and Muslims worship a false god.’ And in the 1990s, he said that homosexuality causes ‘the deaths of tens of thousands every year through AIDS.’ He’s super-tolerant. Then again, Jeffress has done quite a bit for the gay community: In 1998, while he was pastor at the First Baptist Church in Wichita Falls, he protested the library’s carrying such titles as Heather Has Two Mommies and Daddy’s Roommate, which only served to make them more popular.”Â

Just two weeks before the Supreme Court handed down its 2015 ruling on Obergefell, finding the Constitution does allow same-sex couples the right to marry, Jeffress appeared on Fox News, invoking the Holocaust, and tying it to supposed persecution of Christians.

“Christians,” Jeffress falsely told Sean Hannity, are “losing their business because they believe in traditional marriage.”

“This isn’t imaginary,” Jeffress said. “It’s real. And sure, it doesn’t rise to the level of having your head chopped off by ISIS in the Middle East, but it’s all the same attitude that allows for those attacks.”

“I want to remind people that, you know, the Nazis weren’t able to take the Jews to the crematoriums, immediately,” Jeffress said, without a moment of remorse. “The German people wouldn’t have allowed for it. Instead, the Nazis had to change public opinion. They marginalized the Jewish people, disparaged them, and make them objects of contempt.”

Hannity interrupted, to ensure Jeffress really thought “Christians are being marginalized the way Jews in Germany were?”

“Absolutely. They are being marginalized right now,” Jeffress insisted. “Treated as objects of contempt by the media and once that happens then the taking away of further rights will be very easy.”

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News

Trump Appears to Think Jeb Bush Was President: ‘He Got Us Into the Middle East’

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September 25, 2023

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During a rally in South Carolina on Monday, Donald Trump appeared to confuse former Florida GOP Governor Jeb Bush with his brother, former President George W. Bush, while bragging to supporters how he beat him.

Jeb Bush, who was largely considered to be the default Republican Party nominee for the 2016 presidential election when he launched his campaign, dropped out in February of 2016 after the South Carolina primary.

“When I come here, everyone thought Bush was going to win,” Trump said, before claiming he was “up by about 50 points” over Bush. “They thought Bush because Bush was supposedly a military person.”

“You know what he was…He got us into the Middle East,” Trump claimed, wrongly. “How did that work out?”

READ MORE: ‘Isn’t Glock a Good Gun?’ Trump Asks Before Saying He Is Buying One – Campaign Forced to Deny He Did

“But they also thought that Bush might win. Jeb. Remember Jeb? He used the word ‘Jeb,’ he didn’t use the word ‘Bush,’ I said, ‘You mean he’s ashamed of the last name?’ and then they immediately started using the name Bush,” Trump claimed.

The ex-president went on to continue denigrating Jeb Bush, accusing him of bringing his mother to campaign with him.

“Remember,” Trump said, “he brought his mother, his wonderful mother who’s 94 years old and it was pouring and they’re wheeling her around and it’s raining and horrible. I said, ‘Who would do that your mother, 94 years old. How desperate are you to win?”

Media Matters’ Craig Harrington, commenting on Trump’s latest gaffe, observed: “In the past two weeks, Donald Trump has:

– Warned that Joe Biden might start ‘World War 2’
– Confused his 2016 election opponent (Hillary Clinton) with former President Barack Obama
– Confused his 2016 primary opponent (Jeb Bush) with former President George W. Bush.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Careening’ Toward ‘Risk of Political Violence’: Experts Sound Alarm After Trump Floats Executing His Former General

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Fulton County Judge in Trump Case Orders Jurors’ Identities and Images Must Be Protected

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September 25, 2023

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The Fulton County Superior Court judge presiding over Georgia’s RICO, conspiracy, and election interference case against Donald Trump on Monday afternoon ordered the identities and images of all jurors and prospective jurors to remain secret, ordering they may only be referred to by a number.

“No person shall videotape, photograph, draw in a realistic or otherwise identifiable manner, or otherwise record images, statements, or conversations of jurors/prospective jurors in any manner” that would violate a Superior Court rule, Judge Scott McAfee ordered, “except that the jury foreperson’s announcement of the verdict or questions to the judge may be audio recorded.”

“Jurors or prospective jurors shall be identified by number only in court filings or in open court,” he added.

READ MORE: ‘Careening’ Toward ‘Risk of Political Violence’: Experts Sound Alarm After Trump Floats Executing His Former General

Judge McAfee also ordered no juror’s or prospective juror’s identity, “including names, addresses, telephone numbers, or identifying employment information” may be revealed.

MSNBC’s Katie Phang posted the order, and added: “Another important part of the Order: no responses from juror questionnaires or notes about jury selection shall be disclosed, unless permitted by the Court.”

Judge McAfee’s order comes after Donald Trump’s weekend of attacks on his former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley. Trump strongly suggested he should be executed for treason. Trump also strongly suggested he would target Comcast, NBC News, and MSNBC if he wins the 2024 presidential election.

Responding to the news, MSNBC’s Medhi Hasan observed, “We have just normalized the fact that the former president, and GOP presidential frontrunner, is basically a mob boss.”

 

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‘Isn’t Glock a Good Gun?’ Trump Asks Before Saying He Is Buying One – Campaign Forced to Deny He Did

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4 hours ago

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September 25, 2023

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During a photo shoot at a South Carolina gun shop, Donald Trump posed with and then said he wanted to buy a Glock, asking if it is “a good gun.”

Some say it might be illegal to sell a gun to anyone under criminal indictment, and if he took the gun with him that too might be illegal. It was not clear if, despite saying he would, he actually bought the firearm. The Trump campaign initially said he had, although later backtracked on its claim, and deleted the social media post saying he had.

In the photo op (video below,) Trump posed with several people, including the Republican Attorney General of South Carolina, Alan Wilson, who has held that elected position since 2011.

“Trump’s spokesman announced that Trump bought a Glock today in South Carolina. He even posted video,” wrote former Chicago Tribune editor Mark Jacob. “If Trump took the gun with him, that’s a federal crime since he’s under indictment. There’s also a law against selling a gun to someone under federal indictment like Trump.”

READ MORE: ‘Poof’: White House Mocks Stunned Fox News Host as GOP’s Impeachment Case Evaporates on Live Air

Reuters’ crime and justice reporter Brad Heath posted the federal laws that might apply, as well as Trump’s campaign spokesperson’s clip of the ex-president’s remarks, and his spokesperson saying, “President Trump purchases a @GLOCKInc in South Carolina!”

CNN analyst Stephen Gutowski, who writes about gun policy, added, “It would be a crime for him to actually buy this gun because he’s under felony indictment. Did he actually go through with this purchase?”

“People under felony indictments can’t ‘receive’ new firearms. That also means you can’t buy them,” he also wrote.

MSNBC anchor and legal contributor Katie Phang wrote, “I don’t know if he actually bought the gun. At least it didn’t happen in this video. Also, the Attorney General of South Carolina is in this video. Is he watching Trump commit a crime?”

But some pointed to a federal judge in Texas’ ruling from last year. Reuters reported, a “federal law prohibiting people under felony indictment from buying firearms is unconstitutional.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

 

 

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