#jon root

Pocharapon Neammanee at HuffPost:

Black comedian Drew Desbordes, better known online as “Druski,” ignited a slew of conservative backlash this week after putting on white makeup to mock “conservative women” in a sketch that seemed to be aimed at Turning Point USA’s Erika Kirk. “Erika Kirk’s husband was assassinated in September,” Clay Travis, founder of conservative media outlet OutKick, wrote on X. “It’s March & a black comedian is putting on white face & mocking her in a video.”

Druski, 31, stirred up controversy last year with a video in which he made himself look like a white NASCAR fan who was “just proud to be an American.” In his latest video, titled “How Conservative Women in America Act,” the influencer appears as a white woman with a blonde wig and heavy makeup. Although Druski did not say he was dressing up as Kirk specifically, many on the internet noticed similarities his character and to the Turning Point USA CEO.

The video begins with his character walking onto a stage, dancing to loud music as pyrotechnics go off. His outfit is similar to the one Kirk wore to her late husband Charlie Kirk’s memorial service, which also featured fireworks, in Arizona last year. The video then shows Druski, as the “conservative” woman, doing press conferences, including one about the war in Iran; driving a car with Katy Perry’s “California Gurls” blasting; holding a Bible during an interview, and doing Pilates.

Payton Armstrong at MMFA:

Right-wing and Christian nationalist media figures are lashing out at Magnolia Network owners and former HGTV stars Chip and Joanna Gaines for casting a same-sex couple in a new TV show, declaring that “I would never let my kids watch this filth,” claiming that the show “promotes an unbiblical view of human sexuality, marriage, and family,” and demanding that the Gaineses “repent and make this right.”

Chip and Joanna Gaines’ new show includes a same-sex couple with children

TV personalities Chip and Joanna Gaines cast a same-sex couple in their new show, which premiered on HBO and Magnolia Network last week. The show, Back to the Frontier, features three families role-playing as 1800s homesteaders, including a same-sex couple with twin sons. After backlash from conservative Christian figures, Chip Gaines defended the casting, encouraging people to ask questions and “maybe even learn.” He added, “It’s a sad Sunday when ‘non-believers’ have never been confronted with hate or vitriol until they are introduced to a modern American Christian.” [NBC News, 7/15/25; Los Angeles Times, 7/15/25; Deadline, 7/15/25]

The Gaineses (no relation to right-wing commentator Riley Gaines) were also targeted by right-wing media figures in 2023 for their business relationship with Target, which carried trans-inclusive merchandise and rainbow-colored children’s clothing in its Pride collection. In one instance, right-wing influencer Benny Johnson shared a video of himself in a Target store, where he complained that the Gaineses “have not disavowed Target's Satanic child grooming despite the backlash.” [Twitter/X, 7/15/25, 7/16/25; Media Matters, 5/30/23; Fox News, Fox News at Night, 5/24/23; Newsweek, 5/27/23]

FYI- Candace Owens (formally known as the 2017 YT commentator red pill black) & Kirk (TPUSA) were friends for eight (8) years. Kirk met and hired CO on the spot in 2017 during a Restoration Weekend Conference hosted by The Horowitz Center.

A statement by the David Horowitz Freedom Center. November 20, 2023 by The Editors Six years ago, the David Horowitz Freedom Center invited the then little-known Candace Owens to its annual Restoration Weekend gathering of conservative movers and shakers.

Payton Armstrong at MMFA:

Right-wing media figures are lashing out at President Donald Trump’s personal spiritual adviser and senior adviser to the White House Faith Office Paula White-Cain for likening Trump to Jesus during an Easter event, labeling her an “unabashed heretic” and “batsh*t crazy.” White-Cain is a televangelist, pastor, and Trump’s longtime spiritual adviser who has “long been a prominent and polarizing figure in evangelical circles.” White-Cain has an extensive history of extreme rhetoric, including declaring that opposition to Trump is equivalent to opposition to God. Now a senior adviser to the White House Faith Office, White-Cain is part of Trump’s effort to expand “the power and influence of conservative Christians in government” in his second term.

At an April 1 closed-door Easter speech at the White House, White-Cain spoke next to Trump and directly likened him to Jesus, saying, “No one has paid the price like you have paid the price. It almost cost you your life. You were betrayed and arrested and falsely accused. It’s a familiar pattern that our lord and savior showed us.” The White House deleted video of the speech, which “was initially posted on the official White House website and YouTube channel,” and clips continued to circulate on social media. On April 4, Fox host (and the president’s daughter-in-law) Lara Trump hosted White-Cain to share a message for Easter, in which she said it was her “favorite subject to talk about” to “give honor to God and to president Trump for being bold and unwavering with his faith.”

Adam Gabbatt at The Guardian:

On the campaign trail, Donald Trump repeatedly promised to “protect religious liberty”, and two weeks after his inauguration he acted: creating a “White House faith office”, which will be led by Paula White, a millionaire televangelist known to speak in tongues who called the Black Lives Matter movement the “Antichrist” and once encouraged people to buy “resurrection seeds” for $1,114. The move brought renewed focus on White, Trump’s longtime spiritual guru. And for White, not all of it will be welcome. In March, she was criticized over an alleged cash-for-blessings scandal, while other rightwing Christians are unhappy with her new government role, with one describing White as “100% a false teacher”.

White will be “senior adviser” of Trump’s faith office, which Trump announced along with an executive order which created a “Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias”. “While I am in the White House, we will protect Christians in our schools, in our military, in our government, in our workplaces, hospitals, and in our public squares, and we will bring our countries back together as one nation under God, with liberty and justice for all,” Trump said in a speech announcing the creation of the faith office. The appointment of White suggests some of those methods of protection could be unorthodox. In March, as Easter approached, White was criticised for a video in which she appeared to offer “seven supernatural blessings” for the price of $1,000, including the assignation of a personal angel. White, whose preaching has been described as adhering to “prosperity gospel” theology – the belief that praying will result in financial gains – said the blessings would also include prosperity and “increase in inheritance”. White denied that people had to pay to receive the blessings, a spokesperson for Paula White Ministries telling the Christian Post: “This story is a deceptive smear. Pastor White specifically says in the very same video, ‘you’re not doing this to get something,’ and the solicitation, which was later in the program, makes it clear that any donation to the ministry should only be ‘as the Holy Spirit leads.’ Moreover, donations to the ministry do not directly benefit Pastor White.” Still, even some rightwing Christians were unimpressed with White’s appointment. Jon Root, a Turning Point USA contributor and conservative influencer who supports Trump, told Notus: “Anybody that you know holds true to strong biblical conviction and discernment wouldn’t be involved with Paula White. She’s 100% a false teacher.” In any case, the “seven supernatural blessings” was not the first time White has introduced finances into faith. In 2016, she offered “resurrection seeds” for sale for $1,144, claiming in a recorded speech that God had told her the price point.

“There’s someone that God is speaking to, to click on that donation button by minimizing the screen. And when you do, to sow $1,144,” she said. “It’s not often I ask very specifically but God has instructed me and I want you to hear. This isn’t for everyone but this is for someone. When you sow that $1,144 based on John 11:44, I believe for resurrection life.” White said people could also pay $144 or $44 if they could not afford God’s suggested total. The money appeared to grant individuals a metaphorical, rather than physical, seed, and the price included a prayer cloth, which White said could bring “special miracles”, and recommended it be placed under a loved one’s bed.

[...] Other questions about White relate to her beliefs and statements on issues including race and immigration. The Grio reported that White had particular animus for the Black Lives Matter movement, and said in a 2020 speech: “Christ’s likeness is not found in my gender, it is not found in my culture, it is not found in my ethnicity, it is not found in KKK, it is not found in Antifa, and it is not found in Black Lives Matter. All of which are anti-Christ, and even terrorist organizations.”