Pro-Trump Pastor Issues Ominous Warning to Former President’s Enemies

A pro-Trump pastor has said opponents of Donald Trump will face “retribution” if the former president wins this year’s race for the White House.

Joel Tenney told conservative media company Right Side Broadcasting Network (RSBN) that he believed Trump to be a born-again Christian.

“You see the left news, fake news media, even the way they treated me, NBC and the article they did,” he said ahead of a Trump rally in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on January 17. “I want to say that it is disingenuous, it is not fair reporting, it is not good reporting and I think the Republic sees that.”

An NBC News article from January 10 suggested “celebrity pastors” had given Trump credibility among some Christians, allowing him to spout—and repeat—falsehoods such as election conspiracy theories.

Previously, Tenney had told supporters in Coralville, Iowa, in an invocation speech before a Trump rally that the election was a “spiritual battle” against “demonic forces.”

He quoted part of the Bible and a passage in Romans that reads: “Whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.”

Tenney added in his own words that “judgment is coming.” He said: “When Donald Trump becomes the 47th president of the United States, there will be retribution against all those who have promoted evil in this country.”

At an Iowa town hall this month, Trump said some people would find the idea of retribution being a focus of his presidency “not so bad.” He added he likely wouldn’t have time for it.

He is one of a number of pastors and evangelical Christians in the U.S. currently repeating Trump’s election lies.

Trump continues to say the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him by President Joe Biden, but there has never been any evidence of this.

Explaining his own comments to RSBN in New Hampshire, Tenney said, “Retribution does not mean civil war, it means just punishment.”

Newsweek has approached Tenney via Facebook for additional comment.

Trump currently faces 91 charges in four criminal indictments spread across Washington, D.C., Florida, Georgia and New York. He has denied the claims and says the charges, along with as yet unresolved civil cases against him, are politically motivated.

He also says Biden has weaponized the Justice Department against him (DoJ), but there is no credible evidence of this.

In October, the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) said 60 percent of white evangelical Protestants believe the 2020 election was not won fairly by Biden. And 28 percent said they “believe that there is credible evidence that Trump committed serious federal crimes.”

The report added that “white evangelical Protestants continue to be some of Trump’s most ardent supporters and remain the only major religious group in which a majority [61 percent] rate him favorably.”

Similarly, an AP-NORC poll from October says around half of evangelicals see Trump in a good light.

The Iowa caucus that saw Trump win by over 30 points from rivals Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley was decided in part because of the turnout of white born-again or evangelical Christian voters. A CNN exit poll indicates 53 percent of Trump’s voters who responded to the survey described themselves in this category.

Issues are also key to the debate, including abortion gender ideology and way of life. The PRRI report indicates around one-third of Americans consider abortion a critical issue either way.

Recently, Trump took credit for the overturning of Roe v. Wade, a Supreme Court that had previously granted universal access to abortion care in the U.S.
Since, states were granted the power to limit abortion access, and critics say this is preventing women from accessing needed healthcare.

Others, including Trump, say they feel restrictive measures should be in place but do not believe in a total ban. Regardless, PRRI says 75 percent of white evangelical Protestants oppose legal abortion.