Last week, My Faith Votes, the Religious Right effort overseen by Ben Carson that seeks to mobilize 25 million Christians to vote in 2016, hosted a teleforum with Duck Dynasty's Phil Robertson, during which he threatened to run for president.
Given that My Faith Votes was behind the meeting that Donald Trump held with hundreds of Religious Right leaders back in June, it was no surprise that most of the focus of the call was on encouraging Christian voters to support Trump.
Robertson kicked things off by agreeing with a caller who said that "rising secularism" in the United States is "the greatest assault on Christianity" in modern times. This assault, Robertson said, is the fault of the voters who "elect depraved souls" to serve in public office instead of candidates who will defend religious liberty and the Second Amendment and oppose abortion rights and gay marriage.
"You call it secularism," he said, "I just call it the Evil One, the Evil One that controls human beings."
Robertson went on to claim that society is overrun with murder and lying, which are the works of Satan and the result of the teaching of evolution and the separation of church and state in public schools.
The only hope is for Christians to vote for the godliest candidate, Robertson said. "The one that at least won't disarm us, spiritually speaking and physically speaking."
"I can't tell you how to vote," he said, but "if they keep fooling around long enough, they're going to force me to run. If you want to see a change in America, get me in there, dude, and there will be a big change then, if you all are ready for it."
