Media Matters Revisits Right-Wing Media Prophesies That Obama Is The Antichrist
As attention turns to speculation that May 21, 2011, will be the Biblical day of rapture, Media Matters revisits a litany of fringe right-wing media figures who foretold that President Obama might just be the Antichrist – the latest in a long line of world leaders presaged as “the beast.”
Fringe Right-Wing Media: Obama Could Be The Antichrist
Beck-Promoted Author Richardson: “What Obama And The Antichrist Have In Common.” Glenn Beck-promoted author Joel Richardson wrote a column for the fringe right-wing website WND headlined “What Obama and the Antichrist have in common.” Despite writing that he wanted to “make it very clear that in no way do I believe that President Obama is the Antichrist,” Richardson did draw parallels between the two:
Most people who have never even read the Bible have heard about the one Christians most often refer to as the Antichrist. In brief, according to many prophecies throughout the Bible, the Antichrist will be a satanically empowered man who will emerge as a powerful world leader shortly before the return of Jesus Christ. He will first emerge as a man of peace with a populist message and a large and popular following. Eventually, however, in his quest to expand his power base, he will seek to revive a powerful Middle Eastern empire. But even after his military campaigns begin, he will continue to use wealth redistribution as a tool to maintain his followers.
Before I continue, I want to make it very clear that in no way do I believe that President Obama is the Antichrist. For now, he is my president, and despite my deep disagreement with many of his policies, as an American, I pray for his protection and covering and that God would guide both his actions and his decisions.
When I listen to the average Christian express his expectations regarding the coming of the Antichrist, I often feel as though I am listening to something out of a science fiction novel. But will the coming of the Antichrist really be so otherworldly? We have just watched as an entire nation rallied around a populist leader with an observable religious fervor. What we have just observed and are even now watching unfold is but a foreshadow. Another man is coming.
[…]
We have just watched as a man lacking virtually any proper qualifications rose to become the most powerful man in the world, almost solely on his charisma and his shallow appeal to class envy. Today, throughout the Islamic world, the masses are yearning for and longing for a populist messiah figure known as the Mahdi who, according to their very own prophecies, will employ precisely the same methods as Obama. And as we have also learned, the Bible and the understanding of the early church also clearly warn that a man is soon coming who will also employ these very techniques in his to rise to power. Over half of the American people fell for it this time. When the soon coming imposter messiah arrives, will be any wiser? As the Apostle Paul warned, “Let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.” (1 Thessalonians 5:6) The days we live in demand no less. [WND, 8/5/09; Media Matters, 2/17/11]
WND’s Massie: Obama Is “Potentially The Next To The End Before” The “Tribulation Period Begins.” In a November 3, 2009, column, Mychal Massie wrote:
I would also remind [Obama] that there is “One” greater than he and the agenda he shares in compliance with his handlers. And the faith of us believers persuades us that he is but the penultimate ephemera preparatory to the zeitgeist that must exist prior to the unveiling of the ultimate evil. In the final analysis, he is potentially the next to the end before that which our Scriptures call the Tribulation Period begins – either way, as an ephemera he is a matter of no lasting significance. [WND, 11/3/09]
Sussman: “I Could Have Sworn [Obama] Was Running For Antichrist.” Discussing Obama’s July 24, 2008, speech in Berlin, KFSO’s Brian Sussman said, “As I was watching that speech, I could have sworn he was running for Antichrist.” [KSFO, The Lee Rogers Show, 7/28/08]
Cunningham: “I May Declare [Obama] To Be The Beast.” Radio host Bill Cunningham said:
And around Ohio, the number [of newly registered voters] is 666,000. Six-six-six. The mark of the beast. The great majority, of course, are registered by ACORN. The mark of the beast. And who is the beast? Who gave ACORN $800,000 as part of this criminal conspiracy? Who was the lawyer for ACORN? Who conducted ACORN seminars to tell ACORN employees and others how to cheat the system? Barack Hussein Obama. I may declare him to be the beast. Six-six-six. It could be the end of all days. [Clear Channel, The Big Show with Bill Cunningham, 10/10/08]
Victoria Jackson: “Obama Bears Traits That Resemble The Anti- Christ.” Victoria Jackson reportedly wrote the following on her website:
I don’t want a political label, but Obama bears traits that resemble the anti- Christ and I’m scared to death that un- educated [sic] people will ignorantly vote him into office. My mom likes him because his children are well dressed!
You see, what bothers me most, besides that he is a Communist, and a whitey- hater, (although he is half white), is that he is a LIAR. He pretends to be a Christian and he incriminates himself everytime [sic] he speaks about Christianity. To lie about being a believer in Christ is very dangerous. Lightning could strike him at any minute! But seriously, he doesn’t have a clue what the Bible says and yet he pretends to be a church- going Christian to win votes. That is sooooo evil. [Gawker, 8/22/08]
Baker Referred To Obama As An Antichrist Character. Minneapolis radio host Chris Baker repeatedly called Obama “Nicolae Carpathia,” the Antichrist character in the Left Behind series. [KTLK, The Chris Baker Show, 9/23/08]
Rose Tennent: “All The Insects And The Rodents Come Out For” Obama “Like They’re Attracted To The Devil Or Something.” Radio host Rose Tennent discussed what she called her “suspicions” of Obama on her radio show in 2008 and read an email from a listener who wrote: “I don’t intend to sound like a nut; however, I felt for a long time that Obama is evil, or at the very least an enemy of the U.S.A. Oh yeah. I’ve even gone so far as to say he may be the Antichrist. Jokingly of course.” Rose opined:
All the insects and the rodents come out for this man, or something. They’re attracted to him. I think it’s like – you know, like, those devil movies, because, you know, like they’re – like they’re attracted to the devil or something. I’m just saying. [Clear Channel, The War Room With Quinn And Rose, 6/25/10]
Hirschmann: Obama “Could Pave The Way For A Future Antichrist.” Author Maria Anne Hirschmann told the Colorado Springs Gazette:
He could pave the way for a future Antichrist. Obama scares me because he has no record and people flock to him. Hitler also had no record, people flocked to him and both wrote a book. Christians laid flat and Hitler came to power, just like with Obama. [Colorado Springs Gazette, 5/1/09]
LifeSiteNews: “Many Have Asked: Is Obama The Anti-Christ?” LifeSiteNews.com published a newsletter by Michael O’Brien hypothesizing whether Obama is the Antichrist. The story, headlined “Many Have Asked: Is Obama The Antichrist? – Famed Novelist Michael O’Brien Answers” was one of their top ten stories for 2008. In the newsletter, O’Brien wrote:
[Obama] is indeed a powerful manipulator of crowds, even as he appears ever so humble and wholesomely charming. I doubt that he is the long-prophesied ruler of the world, but I also believe that he is a carrier of a deadly moral virus, indeed a kind of anti-apostle spreading concepts and agendas that are not only anti-Christ but anti-human as well. In this sense he is of the spirit of Antichrist (perhaps without knowing it), and probably is one of several key figures in the world who (knowingly or unknowingly) will be instrumental in ushering in the time of great trial for the Church under its last and worst persecution … [LifeSiteNews.com, 11/03/08, 1/07/09]
Obama Is Just The Latest Antichrist Candidate
Charleston Daily Mail Columnist: “The List” Of Antichrist Candidates “Goes On And On.” Discussing rumors that Obama is the Antichrist, Dave Peyton wrote an editorial headlined: “People have detected the Antichrist for eons; The trouble is, it’s always been a different person.” From the Charleston Daily Mail:
My earliest recollection of an Antichrist tale came from my father, who said that his parents, my grandparents, believed that Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the Antichrist.
[…]
Napoleon, Hitler, Joseph Stalin and Henry Kissinger have all been called the Antichrist by one group or another.
As the nation’s first Roman Catholic president, John F. Kennedy was briefly a candidate for the title. [Todd] Strandberg pointed out that Kennedy received 666 votes at the Democratic National Convention.
The book of Revelations says the Antichrist will suffer a mortal wound but will recover from it. When Kennedy was shot in Dallas and didn’t recover, he lost his bid to become the very essence of evil.
And what about Ronald Wilson Reagan? There were whispers that since he had six letters in each of his names – 666, that made him the Antichrist. A very liberal friend says he can still almost believe that Reagan fit the mold.
The list goes on and on. Mikhail Gorbachev with the “mark of the beast” on his forehead. PLO Leader Yassir Arafat. President Bill Clinton. Barney the Dinosaur. Prince Charles of Wales. [Charleston Daily Mail, 4/5/10, via Nexis]
![Share This icon](http://static1.firedoglake.com"/plugins/share-this/images/share-icon-16x16.gif"){kind=icon}
