'Beautiful' Trump volunteers belong to 'cult' accused of kidnapping and child abuse
The sick ties that bind them together.
The crew of beaming, blond women former President Donald Trump frequently praises as "so wealthy and beautiful" belongs to a christian "cult" that former members say beat children and kidnapped, according to new reporting.
Trump's frequent call-outs to his “North Carolina Girls” at campaign rallies are directed at members of the Word of Faith Fellowship, a North Carolina-based charismatic christian group described in an investigative book as one of the nation's "most dangerous cults," the New York Times reported Monday.
“Those beautiful ladies from North Carolina are here again," Trump reportedly said at a Wisconsin rally earlier this month. At another in South Carolina, earlier this year, Trump said, “They look so wealthy and beautiful."
Word of Faith and its founders, Jane and Sam Whaley, have been making headlines since 1995 when "Inside Edition" aired interviews when one former member said he saw a room full of nursery school children tied to chairs with bedsheets.
The 2020 book "Broken Faith" by Pulitzer Prize-winning Associated Press reporter Mitch Weiss details a practice known as "blasting" where the entire congregation surrounds a lone member and screams at them for about an hour.
“To them, I wasn’t being abused,” former congregant Matthew Fenner reportedly said of his experience beaten for being gay. “I was being saved and delivered.”
Four members were indicted on kidnapping and assault charges linked to Fenner's accusations in 2014, reports show.
Word of Faith disputes these claims, the New York Times reported.
“I want everyone to know this prayer is not abusive, no one is hit, no one is punched, no one is screamed at," Hannah Davies reportedly said in a testimonial posted on the church’s website. "This prayer is full of love and freedom.”
The New York Times reports Word of Faith members serve as volunteers for Trump's campaign, helping in rally V.I.P sections and donating to his endorsed candidates, among them a controversial North Carolina candidate CNN reporting ties to pro-Nazi and slavery commentary on a porn website.
"This past July, several Word of Faith members hosted a fund-raiser for Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson of North Carolina, the Republican gubernatorial nominee, at the house of a church member, David Caulder, a prominent realtor in the area," the Times reported.
"Among the 'co-chairs & hosts' listed on the fund-raising event’s invitation was Ms. Whaley, the church’s co-founder."
Word of Faith attorney Joshua Farmer, confirmed to the Times the group supports the Republican presidential nominee.
“God has spoken to our hearts that President Trump is the person who will lead this country in the right direction,” the statement said, reportedly citing “policies on important issues,” including “economics, immigration, foreign policy and national security.”
A Trump campaign spokesperson acknowledged the former president's connection to Word of Faith in a statement, saying he “often acknowledge these supporters because their enthusiastic support is motivational to us all.”
