Donald Trump To Meet Wednesday With Pastor Who Says You Can’t Rape Your Spouse

Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 09:13 pm

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On Wednesday, Donald Trump is going to attend an event Wednesday, the Midwest Values and Vision Pastors Leadership Conference, in Ohio hosted by Pastor Frank Amedia.

This is the guy who, reports Right Wing Watch, “once claimed to have single-handedly stopped a tsunami,” “has called AIDS ‘a disease that comes because of unnatural sex’ that can be avoided by those who choose a ‘wholesome life,’ and said that “he’s ready to be thrown into a furnace in protest of LGBT equality.”

Oh dear. That’s enough hyperbole for even Donald Trump. Given Trump’s own record on treatment of women in his life, and remarks he has made about other women, they should be along famously.

Among those attending will be Michael Cohen, who heads Trump’s bizarrely-named “National Diversity Coalition,” and who said last year that spousal rape doesn’t exist: “understand that by the very definition, you can’t rape your spouse. It is true. You cannot rape your spouse. And there’s very clear case law.”

Actually, this is not true. Marital rape, since 1993, is illegal in all 50 states. Conservative Christians claim 1 Corinthians 7:3-5 settles the issue, obligating the wife to submit to sex. The Bible, however, is not the law of the land, no matter how much the Religious Right might wish it to be.

Remember, Trump has said he wants to be a president for all Americans. Well, those who pass his ideological purity test, at any rate. Excluded, apparently, will be Muslims and blacks and Hispanics, and clearly, women.

According to Right Wing Watch’s Miranda Blue,

Amedia sent out an invitation to the September 21 event on Saturday, writing, “I am honored to co-host with Rev. Darrell Scott this important convocation of Pastors and Leaders in Columbus, Ohio on Wednesday, September 21 to meet with Donald Trump in an intimate setting. I am extending an invitation to you and your pastors and leaders to be our special guests.”
 
According to the invitation circulated by Amedia, the event’s primary host will be pro-Trump Cleveland pastor Darrell Scott and will also feature Michael Cohen, the head of Trump’s “National Diversity Coalition,” who told a reporter last year that spousal rape doesn’t exist.
 
Along with claiming to have stopped a tsunami from hitting Hawaii, Amedia has called AIDS “a disease that comes because of unnatural sex” that can be avoided by those who choose a “wholesome life” and said that he’s ready to be thrown into a furnace in protest of LGBT equality.
 
In June, Amedia insisted that Trump had been “raised up” by God to help pave the way for the Second Coming.

It doesn’t matter whether Donald Trump actually believes any of the nonsense these people spout. The mere fact of his attendance represents tacit approval of their message of hate and exclusion.

As a matter of fact, there will be some Fox News whitesplaining going on too, as it has been reported that the meeting will precede a “town hall meeting on African-American concerns” that will be aired that evening by Fox News’ Sean Hannity.

Because who better to explain the needs of black Americans than Sean Hannity? Clearly, what Trump says is true about his message is entirely at odds with his actual message.

Hrafnkell Haraldsson

Hrafnkell Haraldsson, a social liberal with leanings toward centrist politics has degrees in history and philosophy. His interests include, besides history and philosophy, human rights issues, freedom of choice, religion, and the precarious dichotomy of freedom of speech and intolerance. He brings a slightly different perspective to his writing, being that he is neither a follower of an Abrahamic faith nor an atheist but a polytheist, a modern-day Heathen who follows the customs and traditions of his Norse ancestors. He maintains his own blog, A Heathen’s Day, which deals with Heathen and Pagan matters, and Mos Maiorum Foundation www.mosmaiorum.org, dedicated to ethnic religion. He has also contributed to NewsJunkiePost, GodsOwnParty and Pagan+Politics.