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Former President Donald Trump questioned Vice President Kamala Harris’ racial identity during an interview on the PBD Podcast.

Christian nationalist leaders are telling followers that Vice President Kamala Harris is under the influence of a "Jezebel spirit," a term with deeply racist and misogynistic roots that set off alarm bells for religious and political scholars.

The concept is inspired by the biblical story of the evil Queen Jezebel. The word "Jezebel" was used throughout U.S. history to describe Black women, casting them as overtly sexual and untrustworthy.

"Jezebel spirit" has sinister connotations, suggesting the person is under the influence of demons in a spiritual battle between good and evil. People who studied the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection warn that similar rhetoric on spiritual warfare drove many to the U.S. Capitol that day.

"People … are hearing this woman is possessed by a demonic spirit that is hardcore, terrible, hates men, hates authority, is going to do whatever she wants to do," said Anthea Butler, professor at the University of Pennsylvania and author of the book "White Evangelical Racism," who studied the New Apostolic Reformation.

The term, Butler said, is coded language to communicate that the person — a woman, usually a Democrat, Black or multiracial — is not an acceptable candidate.

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris arrives Wednesday at Trenton-Mercer Airport in Mercer County, New Jersey.

Harris is a Christian and a Baptist, but when faith leaders tie her to Jezebel, Butler said it falsely suggests she is non-Christian.

In the Old Testament, Jezebel was a foreign-born queen who wielded great power, persecuted prophets and worshiped false gods. Ultimately, she was punished by being thrown out a window, trampled by a horse, then eaten by dogs.

Later in the Bible, a Jezebel appears as a false prophet portending the end times and promoting sexual promiscuity.

During times of slavery, the "Jezebel spirit" idea was used to justify systemic sexual assault and rape of Black women and girls.

It's been used to target other women, such as Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama, and to categorize movements such as feminism, abortion rights and LGBTQ+ rights.

Conceptualizing female candidates through the "Jezebel spirit" is dangerous, said Tamura Lomax, author of the book "Jezebel Unhinged" and associate professor of religious studies at Michigan State University.

"Any woman who is stepping into her power in any kind of way, is going to be seen as this Jezebel who is deserving of violence," she said.

The use comes from the New Apostolic Reformation, a decentralized yet highly networked movement whose leaders widely teach that demonic forces are involved in spiritual warfare and can speak through people.

In this case, the Jezebel spirit is a demon who has the qualities of Jezebel, though the phrase "Jezebel spirit" never appears in the Bible.

The language is used to galvanize and catalyze Christians with apocalyptic sensibilities with messages that the next election is "do or die," said Matthew Taylor, whose new book, "The Violent Take It By Force," provides a history of the New Apostolic Reformation and details its influence in the Jan. 6 insurrection.

"It's used as a means of justifying aggression," Taylor said. "Christians are supposed to love their enemies. … But Christians are allowed to hate demons."

Some people could use that militant rhetoric to justify real-world violence, he said.

The movement was on prominent display Jan. 6, Taylor said, as believers waged "spiritual warfare" at the Capitol. During the attack, people sang religious songs, prayed and blew shofars — a horn in Jewish tradition that was adopted by Christian nationalists, inspired by their use in the biblical Battle of Jericho.

Since then, Taylor said, there was a huge increase in talk of spiritual warfare in American politics.

Christian nationalism is a fusion of American and Christian identities that seeks a privileged place for Christianity in U.S. public life.

Republican vice presidential nominee U.S. Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, greets the audience Sept. 28 at a campaign event at the Monroeville Convention Center in Monroeville, Pa.

Lance Wallnau, who has 1 million Facebook followers and is one of the leaders who used "Jezebel spirit" to describe Harris, is considered a prophet in the New Apostolic Reformation, according to Taylor, and says he receives messages directly from God. He supports Trump, and Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance recently appeared at an event Wallnau organized.

The Trump and Harris campaigns did not respond to requests for comment.

Wallnau posted a video on social media in which he said, "with Kamala you have a Jezebel spirit, a characteristic in the Bible, that is a Jezebel spirit. The personification of intimidation, seduction, domination and manipulation," he said. He added, "She can look presidential and that's the seduction of what I would say is witchcraft."

In a different video, he said Harris represents "an amalgam of the spirit of Jezebel in a way that'll be even more ominous than Hillary (Clinton), because she'll bring a racial component, and she's younger."

Some preachers with New Apostolic Reformation ties describe Trump as being anointed by God, fighting on the side of angels.

Wallnau didn't respond to requests for comment. After backlash over his "Jezebel spirit" rhetoric, he clarified his thoughts on Harris.

"For the record, Kamala isn't a demon and no living soul on planet earth is a demon. However people, political parties and organizational structures can be under demonic influence," he wrote Sept. 29 on social media.

The language also seeped into down-ballot races. In Indiana, the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor said the election is between "strength and godly boldness" on the state Republican ticket and the "Jezebel spirit" on the Democratic ticket, which is led by three women.

Micah Beckwith, a pastor and self-proclaimed Christian nationalist, did not respond to queries seeking clarity on his comment. Beckwith told the IndyStar that his comment was not about gender but Democratic ideas.

On Oct. 12, thousands gathered to pray at the National Mall where Ché Ahn, a leader in the New Apostolic Reformation, decreed that Trump is a "type of Jehu," the biblical figure who overthrew Jezebel's reign and ordered her death. Ahn, who did not respond to a request for comment, pleaded with the crowd to vote.

"I decree it by faith that Trump will win on November the 5th," he told the crowd. "He will be our 47th president and Kamala Harris will be cast out."

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