Part II of CBS’s “Eye on America” culminates a black eye for the Tiffany Network, as it seeks to cast Trump-supporting evangelicals in an adverse light. As something far out of the mainstream of America, or what the left calls “the other”.
Watch the introduction to tonight’s feature on Trump-supporting evangelicals- the second part of a series by Major Garrett:
CBS EVENING NEWS
9/4/24
6:50 PM
NORAH O’DONNELL: We are continuing our look at Donald Trump's relationship with evangelical Christians. In tonight's "Eye on America," CBS's Major Garrett has an interview with a man who doesn't talk to reporters often: a self-described Christian nationalist. He sees Trump's movement as more than defeating Democrats.
LANCE WALLNAU: You can't make America great again until you restore an awakening with God again.
MAJOR GARRETT: Under a massive circus tent in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, Lance Wallnau is the ringleader, preaching Christian nationalism and political activism to a rapturous following.
Not 30 seconds in, we have references to a circus and to a ringleader. Garrett leaves it to viewers to determine who the clowns and monkeys are.
As our own Tim Graham pointed out when examining Part I of this series:
Don’t expect a probe into black evangelical Christians and their fervent backing of Democrats. That kind of mix doesn’t bother CBS. For that matter, CBS is less concerned about Islamists mixing church and state in American politics.
This isn’t so much a look into the political actions of religious people as it is a pointing out of religious people engaged in wrongthink, and encouraging others to do the same. Proof evident of that is Garrett trotting out Matthew Taylor, author of The Violent Take It By Force: The Christian Movement That Is Threatening Our Democracy, for the second part of this story.
And it’s deceptive, to say the least, to introduce the guy who thinks your interview subject is a threat to democracy as a “religious scholar”. Deceptive but instructive.
Because, otherwise, we wouldn’t really know what to make of the boring interview of Lance Wallnau, who appears to have headlined the event at Eau Claire, Wisconsin, or of the series in general.
Its purpose, clearly, is to cast Trump-supporting evangelicals as a threat to democracy. By necessity, this also means that unapproved free speech is also considered a threat to democracy. Considering the authoritarian season we find ourselves in, this reporting seems extremely helpful.
Terrifying, but helpful.
Click “expand” to view the full transcript of the aforementioned report as aired on the CBS Evening News on Wednesday, September 4th, 2024:
CBS EVENING NEWS
9/4/24
6:50 PM
NORAH O’DONNELL: We are continuing our look at Donald Trump's relationship with evangelical Christians. In tonight's "Eye on America," CBS's Major Garrett has an interview with a man who doesn't talk to reporters often: a self-described Christian nationalist. He sees Trump's movement as more than defeating Democrats.
LANCE WALLNAU: You can't make America great again until you restore an awakening with God again.
MAJOR GARRETT: Under a massive circus tent in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, Lance Wallnau is the ringleader, preaching Christian nationalism and political activism to a rapturous following.
WALLNAU: Unless you learn how to mobilize, and how to move in at a local level, then you are letting the devil dominate your culture.
GARRETT: Wallnau is a business consultant and firebrand influencer in the growing Christian nationalist movement, reaching millions of believers across his platforms. He views Trump as a once-in-a-thousand-years figure: flawed, yet divinely chosen to navigate chaotic times.
WALLNAU: I caught that idea in 2015 when I first met Trump. And I got a lot of pushback after he got elected because they were searching around for “how, why could, how could the evangelicals justify voting for some, you know, barbaric character like Trump, they are hypocrites, that they are”.
GARRETT: Wallnau admits that Trump, twice divorced and roundly accused of other moral failings, does not align with traditional evangelical expectations.
WALLNAU: I said listen, give the guy some time. He doesn't know who we are but his values resonate with our community. God’s raising up an outsider.
If at the end of the day we haven't activated you to either be a poll watcher, poll worker, somebody involved with election integrity, or somebody who can help someone else get out and vote, I'm not sure that we have done what we have to do.
GARRETT: What I watched today, was that about spiritual revival or political activism?
WALLNAU: That's a combination platter. It's about spiritual activism.
GARRETT: Can an energized Christian sit out this election?
WALLNAU: I don't see how anyone with moral clarity sits out an election like this. I mean, the issues are so clear. I tell Christians, I say, “you know, what would you say during the Civil War?”
GARRETT: The terminology at Wallnau's revivals is apocalyptic.
WALLNAU: It's not us that's dangerous, it's them.
GARRETT: Describing a spiritual battle between pious believers, and demons who speak through Democrats or liberals.
WALLNAU: It's not just a person, it's a spiritual force.
GARRETT: Demonic or…?
WALLNAU: Demonic. Yeah. They can influence people with bodies.
MATTHEW TAYLOR: They believe it was a demonic conspiracy that stole the 2020 election.
GARRETT: Religious scholar Matthew Taylor has made a careful study of Wallnau and others in the charismatic Christian movement.
TAYLOR: They are using the experiences of charismatic spirituality to galvanize Christians politically. And saying, now you've had these experiences, now you need to go and use that to change our country.
GARRETT: Wallnau rarely grants interviews but is willing to describe, as he sees it, the forces arrayed against Trump.
WALLNAU: He’s virtually up against academia, media, government, the intelligence communities, and to an extent, a whole lot of corporate businesses.
GARRETT: He believes hyper-focused Christian political energy can overcome those perceived obstacles.
WALLNAU: The tendency to just look at elections, pray about them, eat popcorn, watch the result and then go to bed is over. Christians as believers probably should be engaged in this process of shaping culture far more aggressively and intentionally from now on.
GARRETT: As for their impact on the election, God only knows. For Eye on America, I’m Major Garrett in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
