Vance to talk at tour hosted by ‘prophet’ who thinks Harris practices witchcraft

JD Vance will speak at an event on Saturday hosted by the self-styled prophet and political extremist Lance Wallnau, who has claimed Kamala Harris practices witchcraft and has written that the US is headed toward bloody internal conflict.

The campaign announced earlier this week that the Republican vice-presidential candidate will participate in a "town hall" as part of the Courage tour, a traveling pro-Trump tent revival, during a stop in Monroeville, Pennsylvania.

Wallnau, who hosts the tour and broadcasts its speakers on his online show - drawing hundreds in-person and sometimes tens of thousands virtually - is a proponent of the "seven mountains" mandate, which commands Christians to seek leadership in seven key areas of society - the church, the education system, the family, the media, the arts, business and government.

He is also a leader in the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), a movement that features modern-day apostles and has taken hold in particular in non-denominational charismatic churches that embrace faith healing and believe that the Holy Spirit can speak directly through believers in the form of speaking in tongues and prophesy. These religious spaces often also practice "deliverance ministry" and "spiritual warfare" to cleanse people of demonic entities.

Karrie Gaspard-Hogewood, a scholar whose research focuses on such groups, noted that NAR-aligned practitioners engage in a unique form of "spiritual warfare" - fighting malign forces in not only individuals who are believed to be inhabited by a malign entity, but also entire geographic areas.

"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," said Gaspard-Hogewood.

Extremism researchers worry that spiritual warfare, which is by definition waged in the supernatural realm, could become dangerous if interpreted excessively literally. On January 6, spiritual warriors affiliated with the Jericho March rallied at the Capitol to protest against the election results, engaging in a form of spiritual warfare on the National Mall. Wallnau, who himself prophesied that Trump would win the 2016 election and rejected the outcome when he didn't win again in 2020, doubled down on his position at a stop of the Courage tour in Wisconsin.

"January 6 was not an insurrection - it was an election fraud intervention!" Wallnau exclaimed to the roaring crowd.

Wallnau has also written in his book, God's Chaos Candidate: Donald J Trump and the American Unraveling, that he believes the United States is headed toward a potentially bloody clash - a "fiery trial" that will come "both to believers and nations". In his book, in which he also claims to have met with Trump on multiple occasions, Wallnau writes that the US is entering a "crucible", which will involve "a 'conflict' of ideologies, often arms, to determine a victor in the power clash".

The Courage tour has made stops in Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin and Georgia.

The inclusion of Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, in the tour highlights the Trump campaign's increasing alignment with a movement on the religious right that seeks to subordinate US government and society to Christian doctrine.

A typical day at the Courage tour involves 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. Trump-aligned organizations including TPUSA Faith and America First Policy Institute have had a presence on the tour handing out pamphlets and posting up at stands outside the tent.

Vance's speech marks the first time the Trump campaign has officially linked with the tour. In response to a request for comment about Vance's participation in the Courage tour, a Trump campaign spokesperson, Karoline Leavitt, did not directly comment on Wallnau or Vance's participation in the event, but wrote that neither "President Trump, nor any of his supporters, ever engaged in an alleged 'insurrection'."

Wallnau did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Republicans have long enjoyed the support of conservative, and in particular, evangelical Christians. In 2016, Trump, whose profile as a twice-divorced billionaire who has faced multiple accusations of sexual assault, managed to maintain that alliance by assuring his presidency would represent the Christian right through conservative judicial appointments. Trump made good on his promise, ushering in an ultraconservative supreme court, which in 2022 overturned Roe v Wade - delivering opponents of abortion a stunning win.

Since 2020, a burgeoning movement of evangelical leaders who seek to separate the church from Maga politics could threaten that alliance. If Trump is able to hold on to those voters and turn out enough conservative Christians at the polls, he could win back the White House.

With its 19 electoral votes, Pennsylvania could be a make-or-break state for Harris and Trump. Some polling shows Kamala Harris holding a narrow lead over Trump in the state; other polls suggest the candidates are virtually tied there.

Vance's participation in the Courage tour could alienate some. The campaign is probably betting the support he could shore up from rightwing Christians there will outweigh the risk of appearing at an event with extremist overtones.