President Donald Trump launched his re-election campaign in Orlando, Florida, on Tuesday. However, before the president took the stage, his spiritual adviser Paula White had a few words for the audience. According to The Washington Post , White blasted the “demonic” forces aligning against the president and called for them to be “torn down in the name of Jesus.”
White led the audience in a prayer of thanks to open Trump’s re-election campaign. Yet, after spending a few minutes in prayer, she broke out of her reverie to rile up the crowd.
“Right now, let every demonic network who has aligned itself against the purpose, against the calling of President Trump, let it be broken, let it be torn down in the name of Jesus!” she said.
She went on, saying that his enemies would be thwarted and that being re-elected to a second term was Trump’s destiny.
“I declare that President Trump will overcome every strategy from hell and every strategy from the enemy — every strategy — and he will fulfill his calling and his destiny,” she said.
White didn’t spell out exactly who these demonic forces are, but the president’s foes often include the same familiar list of entities, including the media and Democrats.
White has faced criticism in the past for questionable fundraising practices. According to a report from The Daily Beast , the evangelical preacher was investigated in 2007 by the U.S. Senate. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley and his staff spent three years investigating White and others like her for their practice of encouraging people to send “seed money” in order to get direct communication – through her ministry – from God.
Her website encourages people to send a “seed offering” of $5 or more and, in exchange, it promises that God will repay those who donate handsomely. The investigation was concluded without any convictions.
“A demonic network that has been united against President Trump needs to be broken in the name of Jesus” – prayer from Paula White pic.twitter.com/STDz7vF95v
— Christopher Heath (@CHeathWFTV) June 18, 2019
Trump has had a long relationship with White. In 2007, he praised her even as she was in the middle of being investigated.
“Paula White is not only a beautiful person, both inside and out, she has a significant message to offer anyone who will tune in and pay attention. She has amazing insight, the ability to deliver that message clearly, as well as powerfully,” he said, per The Daily Beast report.
White has, in turn, been supportive of the president publicly on numerous occasions. She has called him a “diamond” and has vouched for his religious conviction, which has been called into question by some who see his behavior at odds with a deeply religious individual.
