Donald Trump has appointed Mike Huckabee, a former Southern Baptist preacher turned governor of Arkansas turned presidential candidate turned Christian television talk show host, the ambassador to Israel. Christian Zionist groups are very excited about the appointment. Here is Joel Rosenberg at “All Israel News”:
My colleagues and I are absolutely thrilled by this appointment.
After all, Mike is a dear friend, aĀ devout Evangelical follower of Jesus Christ, and one of the most influential pro-Israel voices in the Christian world.
He is a passionate champion of the U.S.-Israel alliance and a fierce defender of Israel against theĀ āavalanche of liesāĀ he sees coming from the Iranian regime, other hostile world governments, and much of the U.S. and global media.
In addition to hosting the most popular show on TBN ā the most watched Christian television network in the U.S. ā Huckabee alsoĀ serves on the ALL ISRAEL NEWS advisory boardĀ and was the first person to agree to do so when we established this media platform in 2020.Ā
Thus, Huckabeeās appointment sends a powerful message about Trumpās intention to stand solidly and unwaveringly with Israel ā and to reject the failed Mideast policies of Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, of which Huckabee has been a sharp critic.Ā
His appointment is also an unmistakable sign of just how seriously Trump regards the enormous influence of the tens of millions of Evangelical Christians in the United States who love Israel and the Jewish people.Ā
***
Paul Batura, a writer for Focus on the Family website Daily Citizen, is comparing Donald Trump’s victory on Election Day in 2024 to Harry S. Truman’s surprise win over Thomas Dewey in 1948. Here is a taste:
Itās an iconic photograph ā a smiling President Harry Truman holding aloft a copy of theĀ Chicago TribuneĀ heralding a āfake newsā headline: āDewey Defeats Truman.ā
The picture was snapped by W. Eugene Smith two days after Trumanās election in November of 1948. On his way back to Washington, D.C., from Independence, Missouri, aboard the presidential train the Ferdinand Magellan, Truman had stopped in St. Louis. An aide was said to have found the newspaper under a seat in a car attached to the executive entourage.
As the 1948 presidential election approached, media elites were convinced New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey would easily defeat the incumbent Truman. The former senator-turned-vice-president had assumed the presidency following Franklin Rooseveltās death in 1945.
After an initial honeymoon period as World War II wound down, the former haberdasher had struggled politically.
āHe was considered to be a sure loser,ā reflected his biographer David McCullough. A week before the election,Ā The New York TimesĀ said Deweyās election was āa foregone conclusion.ā
Only Truman believed otherwise.
Sound familiar?
***
The MAGA charismatic prophets are weighing-in on the election. Dutch Sheets says that God did not allow Trump to win in 2020 because the Democrats would have blocked his policy proposals. “We were disappointed it didn’t happen [in 2020]…Several prophetic voices told me afterward, however, that every prayer would be answered. Just not when we assumed. God knows what he’s doing.” Molly Olmstead has more on this story at Slate.Com.
***
David Lane, a Christian nationalist who we occasionally cover here at the blog, is urging his followers to lobby for Rick Scott as the new GOP majority leader. Elon Musk is also backing Scott. Here is Peter Montgomery at People for the American Way:
Over the weekend, Scott immediatelyĀ backedĀ Trumpās demand that Republican senators dismantle a crucial constitutional check and balance by allowing Trump to fill his cabinet positions through recess appointments, bypassing Senate confirmation.Ā
Lane, who has long urged conservative pastors to turn their churches into voter turnout operations on behalf of right-wing candidates, is committed to the āeradicationā of secularism. Lane has called separation of church and state a ālieā designed to stop āChristian Americaāthe moral majorityāfrom imposing moral government on pagan schools, pagan higher learning, and pagan media.ā As a candidate in 2016, DonaldĀ TrumpĀ attendedĀ one of Laneās organizing events in Florida.
Also urging senatorsĀ to back Scott is the Conservative Action Project, the political arm of the Council for National Policy, which released aĀ letterĀ last week signed by many of the sameĀ right-wing activistsĀ whoĀ backedĀ Trumpās efforts to stay in power after his 2020 defeat.
***
Owen Strachan on what has changed since Trump got elected:
I don’t think most of us have grasped how cataclysmic the effects of Trump’s election are. It signals that:
1. The times have changed 2. Evangelicals are not captive to “neither left nor right” falsehoods 3. The American people are no longer led by the nose by holier-than-thou celebrities 4. You don’t advance your cause by being neutral, but by taking a stand 5. The days when conservative Christians listened to voices like Russell Moore and David French are over 6. We must not be shamed for being political conservatives, but find our identity in Christ 7. We conservative Christians are IN NO WAY isolated or marginalized, but still have a massive voice in politics 8. There are tons of people who rightly honor religious liberty, and will never give it up 9. Standing against pagan gender ideology is a winning position 10. America stands a real chance of being renewed in days ahead, even as we must fight for good in God’s power
It’s amazing how all these changes can take place with one presidential election. But I guess if you believe that Trump is God’s anointed one it all makes perfect sense. Strachan should read James Davison Hunter’s book To Change the World. He might learn that presidential elections do not change cultures.
***
Albert Mohler is wondering about election fraud in 2020:
Iāve looked at all the arguments; they fundamentally just donāt add up. For one thing, it points to an enormous increase in voting among the young. Younger voters, did that actually take place? Well, at this point, Iām not going to question that it did. Iām just going to say the numbers still do not add up to totally explain this differential. And so itās going to be very interesting to see if we do have prominent think tanks, basically respected by both sides, if we have major universities, centers, institutes, if we have major organizations, major media come back and say this is an interesting pattern, we ought to take a closer look. But this is also a good time to raise the fact that there are several states that really need to take a closer look at their voting procedures.
***
NPR talks to evangelical Latinos about why they voted for Trump:
***
Logan Davis of the Colorado Times Reporter is covering MAGA evangelicals Andrew Wommack and Jonathan Cahn. A taste:
āI think thereās a lot to look forward to in a second Trump term,ā Wommack wrote. āThe next few years could be a tremendous opportunity to see some real godly laws put into place!ā
Wommack was far from alone in seeing Trumpās victory as the beginning of an era in which Christians will be empowered to ātake back the country for Godā ā a notion which usually entails legal crackdowns on abortion, a restriction of LGBTQ+ civil liberties, and strict media regulations, among other more transient details.Ā
āThis election is not the end of the story, itās the beginning,āĀ saidĀ Christian nationalist leader and self-proclaimedĀ prophetĀ Jonathan Cahn last week. Cahn, based in New Jersey, is a leading voice in the movement, sporting well over one million YouTube followers and frequently appearing at major movement events.Ā
***
Walter Kim, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, on the election:
***
Let’s see what is happening on X:
Megan Basham loves the Huckabee pick:
So does Jack Graham:
So does Sean:
So does Jenna:
So does Sarah:
So does Mike ;-):
So does Johnnie:
So does Tony:
So does Greg:
So does Jentezen:
So does Franklin:
Podcaster Mike Cosper is glad Trump picked Rubio:
A Southern Baptist theobro bonds with the head of the Heritage Foundation, the think tank that brought us Project 2025:
Jenna wants to abolish agencies:
The Faith & Freedom Coalition is happy about Elaine Stefanik’s appointment as U.N. Ambassador:
America is a “covenanted nation”:
A “miracle of mercy”:
Tony throws his support behind Mike Johnson for Speaker of the House:
Greg also likes the pick of Marco as Secretary of the State:
Apparently America can hope again:
Jack likes the pick of Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense:
Franklin likes Trump’s pick of Noem for Homeland Security Secretary:
Thanks to Emma Bell for her assistance with this roundup.
“neither left nor right” is not a falsehood re: the gospel and the kingdom of God.
And if Dutch Sheets now supposes that the providence of God kept DJT from re-election in 2020, I wonder if the brother has second thoughts about his role in the move to overturn that election…