“I don't normally respond but clearly this has been taken out of context”, Paula White, a televangelist pastor who was recently appointed as a special advisor to the Faith and Opportunity Initiative at the White House Office of Public Liaison, wrote on Twitter after a video showing her praying in a sermon for “satanic pregnancies” to end in miscarriage went viral.
“I was praying Eph 6:12 that we wrestle not against flesh and blood. Anything that has been conceived by demonic plans, for it to be cancelled and not prevail in your life...” the pastor added, while also suggestion that the alleged viral misrepresentation of her words was “a disingenuous attempt to use words out of context for political gain”.
In a video reportedly captured on 5 January and then shared by the group Right Wing Watch, White was filmed during a sermon in which she prayed against a variety of forces that allegedly sought to hurt America and Donald Trump in particular, including those originating from the “marine” or “animal” kingdoms. However, her most controversial remark, which many have apparently taken literally, was where she called upon all “satanic pregnancies” to end in miscarriage.
“We command all satanic pregnancies to miscarry right now. We declare that anything that's been conceived in satanic wombs, that it will miscarry, it will not be able to carry forth any plan of destruction, any plan of harm”, White said during the sermon.
The clip has received a strongly negative reaction, as many have interpreted it as Trump’s adviser wishing for “satanic” women to have miscarriages, something that White has denied. Following her response, many social media users threw their support behind the official, referring to the deeper meaning behind the Biblical verse Ephesians 6:12, which White cited in her tweet. According to King James Bible, the provision denounces not “flesh and blood” but “principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places”.
Paula White, 53, officially joined the White House in October last year, giving advice to the president’s Faith and Opportunity Initiative. Meeting Donald Trump prior to his presidential bid, she delivered an address during his inauguration ceremony back in 2017.