A pro-Trump pastor referred to a prominent evangelical leader as a “common street whore” following reports that he accepted money from Trump’s rival in the GOP primary, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, in exchange for his endorsement.
On Tuesday, Bob Vander Plaats, an influential evangelical leader endorsed DeSantis. According to Reuters, Desantis has spent months and nearly $100,000 courting Vander Plaats’ endorsement in Iowa, hoping to halt Trump’s momentum in the crucial early primary state by beating him in the Jan. 15 caucuses.
The DeSantis campaign, a super PAC linked to him and a nonprofit group supporting him together paid $95,000 to the Family Leader Foundation, led by Vander Plaats in the months leading up to his endorsement, according to campaign finance reports and a document prepared by an Iowa state lawmaker who was helping Vander Plaats’ organization raise money for a presidential candidate forum in July.
In a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, ‘Pastors for Trump’ founder Jackson Lahmeyer accused Vander Plaats of damaging the “integrity of evangelicals by prostituting out his endorsement for $95k.”
“As the founder of Pastors For Trump, I can confidently state that I didn’t receive $95k from the Trump campaign,” he added in another post. “Real faith leaders support @realDonaldTrump. Shame on @bobvanderplaats.”
A pro-DeSantis pastor, Dr. Patrick McGuinness responded to Lahmeyer, writing: “You are repeating a slander. Your false witness is unbecoming of any pastor. Shame on YOU. You endorse a narcissistic liar who cheated on all 3 of his wives, was found liable of malicious lying, and has 91 indictments on charges, most related to various lies and dishonesty.”
“The behavior of @bobvanderplaats is indistinguishable from a common street whore,” Lahmeyer responded.
