Intercessors for America, an “army of prayer warriors” that aggressively promoted former President Donald Trump, is urging conservative Christians to rally around Florida’s Trumpist Gov. Ron DeSantis.
In an email sent Thursday to subscribers of the “prophetic” Elijah List, IFA’s Dave Kubal urges readers to sign a “prayer card” for DeSantis. Kubal says claims that IFA will hand-deliver the cards when they reach their goal of 100,000 prayers. The prayer card reads:
Together as the body of Christ in America, we lift up Governor DeSantis. We stand in agreement with heaven’s purposes concerning our nation. We stand by this governor who has declared his state to be under God’s rule and authority and seeks righteousness and justice. [Scriptural citations excluded]
DeSantis delighted right-wing activists by recently signing a voter suppression law in a ceremony closed to all media except Fox News as well as legislation banning transgender women and girls from scholastic sports in the state. He has also signed legislation and issued an executive order overriding local mask requirements.
On Wednesday, a day before IFA’s email, a poll sponsored by the right-wing Convention of States Action group declared DeSantis the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination if Trump decides not to run again. Trump said last week that “a lot of people” would be excited about a Trump-DeSantis ticket. DeSantis was also the top non-Trump choice of people who voted in the straw poll at this year’s Conservative Political Action conference, which was held in Orlando.
Also this week, Mat Staver of the Florida-based religious-right legal group Liberty Counsel published an episode of his “Faith and Freedom” podcast praising DeSantis for “taking great actions to protect the freedom of Floridians.” Liberty Counsel’s communications director Holly Meade declared, “We nominate Gov. Ron DeSantis as governor of the century for America!” Staver said that Florida is “leading the nation” in opposition to big tech “censorship” of conservatives and resistance to pandemic public health restrictions. Under DeSantis, companies that run cruise ships will not be allowed to require passengers to be vaccinated.
Intercessors for America’s Kubal claimed in his Thursday email that he recently met with DeSantis:
Just last month I was in Florida speaking with Governor DeSantis about how Christian Conservatives can defend principles of freedom and liberty.
He told me he REJECTS government overreach --- like enforcing a Vaccine Passport or shutting down churches during a pandemic.
And he's a man of his word – he just signed into law a bill that suspends ALL local COVID emergency orders in Florida.
Kubal praised DeSantis for “pushing back on the radical Left’s tyrannical agenda,” explaining:
He said NO to COVID-19 lockdowns.
He said NO to a government-mandated vaccine passport.
He said NO to amnesty for illegal immigrants.
He said NO to Big Tech censorship.
IFA described DeSantis as a Christian who is being persecuted for his faith:
On a daily basis Governor DeSantis endures relentless personal and spiritual attacks.
We've seen these attacks appear in many different ways:
- Attacks from the "fake news" media - spinning biased stories against our country's most conservative Governor...like the outrageous lies they tried to spread about how Governor DeSantis handled COVID-19...when in fact it was another Leftist governor abusing his state's elderly population.
- Attacks from liberal politicians who want to see Governor DeSantis manipulated and cancelled.
- And attacks from forces of spiritual opposition you and I know will come after anyone who stands up for the Word of God.
Among the specific asks Kubal urges readers to make of God in prayer: “Allow Governor DeSantis to rule in the midst of his enemies, not backing down or wavering due to threats or intimidation.” (IFA’s prayer warriors urged the same “rule in the midst of his enemies” prayer for Trump in 2018, which IFA said “is the same decree that King David prophesied in his own nation concerning the coming Messiah.”)
