JD Vance speaks at an event hosted by “Apostle” who accused Kamala Harris of “witchcraft.”

MONROEVILLE, Pa. – Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance spoke Saturday at an event hosted by a self-proclaimed Christian “apostle” who believes former President Donald Trump is destined to save America from Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris. sent by the devil to “take out Trump.”

Vance took the stage at a town hall at the Monroeville Convention Center near Pittsburgh in front of several hundred people taking part in the “Courage” tour, a traveling neo-charismatic Christian revival movement organized by Lance Wallnau, a prominent Protestant pastor. Wallnau used the tour to travel to battleground states and encourage evangelicals to vote for Trump and register as poll watchers and poll workers.

“I was baptized in 2019,” Vance said to scattered cheers, telling the story of how he rediscovered his Catholic faith late in life.

Vance's town hall was a largely routine repetition of his campaign themes: He blamed lax border laws for the fentanyl crisis; made unfounded claims that schoolchildren do not learn mathematics but “know that there are 87 different genders”; and encouraged people to vote this November.

What's significant about Vance's decision to attend the Wallnau town hall is that it shows that the Trump campaign is once again aligning itself with an extremist current steeped in anti-LGTBQ bigotry and determined to turn the government into a Christian theocracy to transform.

Wallnau was a prominent part of the “Stop the Steal” movement, which aimed to overturn the results of the 2020 election and allow Trump a second term. He was even scheduled to speak at the January 6, 2021 rally that led to a violent attack on the Capitol. Wallnau, who has repeatedly compared Trump to the biblical figure of King Cyrus, recently said the events that day were “not an insurrection” but “an election fraud intervention.”

When he spoke about Harris, he used strident, misogynistic language and said she had the “spirit of Jezebel.” Wallnau also claimed that Harris used “witchcraft” during the televised debate with Trump.

“When I say 'witchcraft,' I'm talking about what happened tonight. Occultist deception, manipulation and domination,” he wrote.

Another time, Wallnau wrote on Facebook that Harris was sent by Satan himself to “take out Trump.”

On Friday evening, Wallnau argued in a welcoming speech: “The word 'trans' essentially means crossing a limit set by God.”

The priest has a history of vile anti-LGBTQ comments, particularly against trans people, and once referred to queer activists as “trans Taliban.” Wallnau once wrote indignantly about a pride flag hanging in the White House: “Is the gay trans flag the new emblem of the United States government?” Is this America’s mission on earth? Have we made our government a champion of trans activism for the world? Or are we on a collision course with divine discipline because of our pride and perversity?”

He also once told a story about how Reformed “hookers” who had found God turned a gay man straight by making him take a bite of an “anointed cake.”

The cake story underscores Wallnau's prominent role in the New Apostolic Reformation, an evangelical movement that believes in miracles, the supernatural, and the existence of modern apostles and prophets with healing powers. Wallnau and the NAR more broadly believe in the so-called “Seven Mountains Mandate,” a prophecy that states that Christians must conquer the “seven mountains” of social influence, including government and media, so that Christ can return to earth.

David Bartels, 67, of Harrisburg, stood in line outside the Monroeville Convention Center at 8:30 a.m. Saturday morning, waiting to get in, where he hoped to “pray and intercede” for Trump to become president. Bartels showed HuffPost a photo of the converted school bus he calls “Chariot,” which he and his wife use to travel around the country healing people. Bartles believes he is endowed with prophetic powers.

He said he believes that “as this election begins, miracles will happen, and more and more of Trump, Vance and the Republican Party will experience miracles and be able to confess and testify more that God is real.” .”