At the White House’s National Day of Prayer event on Thursday, leaders in different religions had the chance to speak before attendees and deliver a brief message or invocation from their faith traditions. But one speaker stood out among all the rest, the woman who is said to be Trump’s spiritual adviser and personal pastor.
Her name is Paula White, leader of an evangelical megachurch in Florida and advocate of the prosperity gospel — a widely disparaged creed that offers the promises of present-day riches in exchange for spiritual devotion and faith. It’s a belief system with striking parallels to — and often is an outright cover for — financial scams. (“As recently as last year,” the Guardian reported in March, “White encouraged members of her congregation to send their first month’s salary to her ministry to enjoy God’s blessings.”)
While the other speakers approached the lectern and spoke solemnly and calmly, White barreled up to the microphone and began immediately speaking a mile a minute, telling the audience to grab each other hands.
View the complete May 2 article by Cody Fenwick on the National Memo website here.