Kansas long has been known as the launching pad for a fantasy story about the “Wizard of Oz.” But last night, the Sunflower State provided the setting for a show even more bizarre than one about witches, flying monkeys and a talking (and singing) lion, scarecrow and tin man.
President Donald Trump trekked to Park City, Kan., Monday night to rally for Republican candidates like Sen. Roger Marshall. So in between curses, lies about past elections and Islamophobic remarks about Abdul El-Sayed and Barack Obama, Trump went on the attack against Marshall’s opponent, Adam Hamilton. And that’s when we witnessed a trip wilder than Dorothy riding a tornado to a yellow brick road.
A thrice-married man whom Jeffrey Epstein described as his “closest friend” called the Democratic nominee, who’s been married for more than 44 years, “a pervert,” “very bad guy” and “very strange.”
Brian Kaylor
A man who posted an AI-generated image of himself as Jesus and who regularly uses the Lord’s name in vain claimed the pastor of the largest United Methodist congregation in the country “openly mocks Jesus.”
A man who infamously invoked “Two Corinthians” and said his favorite Bible verse was “an eye for eye” (which Jesus taught us not to live out) claimed to know more about Christianity than the seminary-trained author of more than 30 books on the Bible and the Christian faith.
A man who hasn’t attended a Sunday worship service in nearly five years claimed the pastor of the largest church in Kansas “doesn’t act like a pastor” and wrongly claims to be one.
Trump made these statements after insisting he had “learned a lot about” Hamilton. He deemed himself the real expert in Christianity because of how he’s performed in elections with white evangelicals. Arguing he had “the all-time-in-history in Christian vote,” Trump added, “I know more than anybody.”
“He deemed himself the real expert in Christianity because of how he’s performed in elections with white evangelicals.”
He then recounted what he was supposedly told by a pastor in Dallas: “He said, ‘You know, he might not read the Bible as much as us, he might not know every passage, and he might have some other little weaknesses, but one thing about him — he’s the greatest leader and he’s going to lead us to a period of time in Christianity that nobody else can do.’ That nobody else can do. And he turned out to be right. Turned out to be right.”
We may, in fact, have been led to “a period of time in Christianity” unlike what anyone else could do. Like a time when a thrice-married former casino magnate who paid off a porn star he had an affair with insists, to applause, he knows more about Christianity than a faithful minister who has devoted decades to reading, studying, interpreting and preaching the Bible. And a time when pastors in Dallas and elsewhere bless profane rhetoric and policies in a quest for power.
Adam Hamilton
“He doesn’t have our views. He doesn’t have our values. And he happens to be, other than being a pastor — he’s a pastor, I guess. But he doesn’t act like a pastor because his views aren’t of a pastor. Adam Hamilton wants to take away your guns,” Trump added, apparently thinking one cannot be a pastor without supporting a right-wing interpretation of the Second Amendment.
Trump also used inaccurate claims to argue Hamilton covered up sexual abuse at a church camp. Meanwhile, the Trump administration continues to violate the law by not releasing many of the Epstein Files, in large part to cover up the extent of Trump’s participation.
Trump also used the favorite right-wing boogeyman of this election season by trying to claim Hamilton “used church dollars to fund anti-religious transgender activities.” Not only is the claim false, but it doesn’t match Hamilton’s views. While Trump insisted Hamilton is “a radical left phony who’s pretending to be a moderate,” a recent pastor of Marshall’s own church, a Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) congregation, called Hamilton “a middle-of-the-road pastor who is willing to listen to all sides.”
“Some people without brains do an awful lot of talking, don’t they?”
Marshall, for his part, smiled and joined Trump in making absurd claims about Hamilton (and Marshall copied Trump in making an Islamophobic attack on Obama). Most wildly, Marshall proclaimed Hamilton is “the reason that the Methodist Church split.” Which is some big breaking news — if only it were true.
In reality, Hamilton attempted for years to prevent a split in the nation’s largest Mainline Protestant denomination.
The hours-long rally on Monday included these and many other false claims. At one point, as Trump again rambled for several minutes about how he supposedly aced several cognitive tests, I recalled the scarecrow’s line to Dorothy: “Some people without brains do an awful lot of talking, don’t they?” Throughout the show, Trump hoped we’d pay no attention to the man behind the curtain and instead just accept what he says about Hamilton and other Democratic candidates.
It remains to be seen if voters will send Marshall back home (to Florida?), but there’s definitely something wicked in our political discourse when many Christians clap for hateful, inaccurate political attacks on a pastor’s faith. It turns out that not every fictitious story in Kansas is worth consuming.
Brian Kaylor serves as president and editor-in-chief of Word&Way. Follow him on Bluesky and YouTube. His latest book is The Bible According to Christian Nationalists: Exploiting Scripture for Political Power. This article originally appeared at Word&Way.
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