Trump Tapped Mike Huckabee To Be U.S. Ambassador To Israel. Christian Nationalists Are Thrilled.
HuffPost
Huckabee's anti-Palestinian rhetoric has made him a leading figure among Christian Zionists in America.
After President-elect Donald Trump announced his nomination of Mike Huckabee for U.S. Ambassador to Israel on Tuesday, prominent Christian nationalists — who see unwavering support for Israel as key to hastening Armageddon and the Second Coming of Christ — were thrilled.
“There is no better person to represent the American people in Jerusalem at this time,” Sandra Hagee Parker, chairwoman of the political arm of the nonprofit Christians United For Israel, said in a statement posted to X. “@GovMikeHuckabee believes in Israel’s right to self-determination and defense, not because it is politically convenient to do so but because these are immutable tenets of his core beliefs.”
CUFI is a far-right Christian Zionist organization that claims 8 million members in America and enjoys the support of many major Republican figures, including House Speaker Mike Johnson. Although CUFI’s support for Israel, and more specifically far-right Israeli politicians and settlers, is expressed as a love for Jews, the organization is also driven by evangelical Christians’ interpretation of Biblical end-times prophecy.
Pastor John Hagee, the group’s founder and Parker’s father, believes the return of Jews to Israel and the expulsion of Palestinians from their lands are necessary steps in bringing forth the end of the world, Jesus’ return to Earth, and the eventual rapture of Christians to Heaven. (There are different formulations about what happens to the Jews in Israel during this end-times scenario, but the prevailing theory is that they would have to mass-convert to Christianity to get to Heaven, or otherwise be doomed to Hell.)
This arguably antisemitic interpretation of scripture is widespread among American Christian evangelicals in America, including Huckabee. Now, as Israel’s assault on Gaza, made possible by U.S. money and weapons, continues at a frightening pace — killing over 41,000 Palestinians, according to the most conservative estimates — the country will soon enjoy the unwavering support of an evangelical Christian ambassador who has said that “there’s really no such thing as a Palestinian.”
The president milked laughter from an Oval Office audience with the line.
The Texas senator, in the heat of his 2016 presidential campaign, put Trump on blast over his ability to "keep this country safe."
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins claimed it was the result of "over a thousand simulations."
Jared Moskowitz clowned the convicted seditionist by questioning if he'd reveal the location of the "treehouse" where his far-right violent militia group meets.
Tensions between residents and federal immigration officers continued to rise in the Twin Cities area after the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE agent.
Social media users tossed a "real question" to the president following his cognitive comments in the Oval Office.
The network's data chief said this voting bloc has shifted "very much away" from the president since his return to office.
Several GOP senators backed down from limiting the president's war powers after he threatened them with electoral consequences.
The MS NOW host also chronicled an exodus of Justice Department staffers after Trump claimed Good "ran over" the ICE agent that killed her.
The worker, TJ Sabula, said he was suspended from his job after calling Trump a "pedophile protector" during the president's factory tour.
"Secretary Noem, you have violated your oath of office and there will be consequences," said Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Ill.).
The Michigan line worker said he had “no regrets whatsoever” about antagonizing the president.
The decision is a boon for President Donald Trump's longtime campaign against mail-in voting.