Wisconsin Examiner

Walker Headlines Event of Controversial Preacher

Preacher has tweeted Obama "ought to be hung for treason," defended Rep. King's (R-Iowa) widely condemned comments

By , Wisconsin Examiner - Sep 24th, 2019 03:06 pm
Facebook event advertisement for Quad Cities Prayer Breakfast with Scott Walker.

Facebook event advertisement for Quad Cities Prayer Breakfast with Scott Walker.

Last Thursday, David Pautsch, the executive director and founder of Thy Kingdom Come Ministries in Davenport, Iowa, appeared on the local ABC affiliate WQAD to make a big announcement:  Former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker had agreed to headline Pautsch’s annual prayer breakfast on Sept. 28.

For $12 per person or $48 per table, people can come and listen to Walker and “know the love, peace, and joy of Jesus” Pautsch wrote on his Facebook page.  Walker’s Facebook also has the event listed and lists himself and Pautsch as the hosts.

“All are welcome,” Pautsch declared, but further scrolling down through his Facebook page leads to decidedly unwelcoming posts thrashing liberals in general and Barack Obama in particular.

A favorite topic of Pautsch’s is the untrue claim that the former President was not born in the United States:

Pautsch asserts that Obama was not only not born in this country but “ought to be hung for treason”:

Pautsch also wrote that Obama was “a Muslim” and that with Obama in the Oval Office, it was “demon infested”:

When pressed by a commenter if he was being Christian when he called Obama a demon and for his hanging, Pautsch replied, “My ‘demon-infested’ comment wasn’t a play on speech. I’m talking about the real deal. The wickedness Obama has tried to foist on the US and Israel is so twisted it deserves the gallows.”

Pautsch at one point explained why Obama is a demon—because his “heart has been” with Islam and the Islamic God Allah is a “devil” and practicing Islam “brings about demonic infestation.”  Pautsch also says, “anyone who worships anything or anyone besides the Most High God (Jesus Christ) is worshiping devils”:

As much as Pautsch despises Obama, he loves U.S. Representative Steve King. After Steve King was widely condemned by both parties earlier this year for saying, “White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization—how did that language become offensive?” Pautsch said, “Will someone please explain what was so offensive about Steve King’s comments?!!” and urged his followers to “come to his defense!!!”

In 2013, Walker was pushed to fire his campaign’s deputy finance director Taylor Palmisano abruptly after similar racist posts were found on Twitter and he was contacted by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Dan Bice about her inflammatory tweets against Hispanics.

Neither Walker nor David Pautsch responded to requests for comment.

Reprinted with permission of Wisconsin Examiner

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3 thoughts on “Walker Headlines Event of Controversial Preacher”

  1. frank a schneiger says:

    There would seem to be two alternative conclusions to this piece. The first is that $12 would seem to be one hell of a bargain to experience the “love, peace and joy of Jesus” in the Quad Cities, although my guess is that it will be hard to find any of those things there.

    The second conclusion is to further understand how dangerous the unreflective acceptance of American exceptionalism is in these times, especially the belief that somehow the experiences and “lessons of history” that govern others don’t apply to us. There is a term for people like Steve King and David Pautsch. They are fascists whose followers are fueled by racial animus and who have defined themselves as victims as they wrap themselves in the flag (actually two flags, American and Israeli) and distort the bible. They operate on a continuum. Even further to the right of them are the organized neo-Nazis and hate groups who take action instead of going to prayer breakfasts. A little further along the continuum toward the indifferent center are the opportunists, Quislings and sycophants. They see their opportunities in scapegoating and otherization because it works.

    That is where Scott Walker comes in. He has built his career on opportunism and otherization, but out of office, he cannot usefully serve the purposes of Koch, Hendricks, Menard, et.al, so he now tries to find his opportunities in the Jesus niche. It is not the Jesus of peace, love, justice and inclusion, but the right-wing American Jesus for whom the lives of the children of Central Americans and Yemen are meaningless, the environment and God’s creatures are to be plundered for human use, acquiring wealth is the goal of life, and Donald Trump is a Christian leader.

  2. mkwagner says:

    I think it is essential to remember that this “otherization” Frank speaks of is in fact, a fundamental principle of this country. The US was built on the principle that some, those deemed members of the “white race,” were/are superior to all other racial and ethnic groups and, as a result of their inherent superiority, are privileged with greater access to power, wealth and the benefits of citizenship in this country. However, within this privileged “white race” are those who are more equal (i.e. wealthy, corporate elect), and thus are more entitled to wealth, power and the privileges of citizenship. The role of the “less equal” is to ensure the continued suppression and oppression of the inferior racial and ethnic others; even when doing so underscores/increases their own “less equal” status. I am, of course, referring to working class and rural Euro-Americans.

    As for Scott Walker and David Pautsch, they are nothing more than “more equal” wannabes. They do the bidding of the wealthy (Kochs, Hendricks, Menard etc.) with the hope of being welcomed into the “more equal elect.” In this case, they are using Jesus and Christianity as nothing more than tools to continue the suppression and oppression of the inferior others.

  3. blurondo says:

    Birds of a feather flock together.
    Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.
    Love thy neighbor.
    A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

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