Conservative Pastor: Spread of coronavirus in synagogues is divine punishment

Rick Wiles, the Florida pastor who claimed that the effort to impeach President Trump was a “Jew coup,” said the spread of coronavirus in synagogues is a punishment of the Jewish people.

By MARCY OSTER/JTA
Rick Wiles, a Florida pastor known for his anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, is the founder of TruNews (photo credit: SCREENSHOT FROM VIMEO)
Rick Wiles, a Florida pastor known for his anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, is the founder of TruNews
(photo credit: SCREENSHOT FROM VIMEO)
Rick Wiles, the Florida pastor who claimed that the effort to impeach President Trump was a “Jew coup,” said the spread of coronavirus in synagogues is a punishment of the Jewish people for opposing Jesus.

Wiles made the claim Wednesday on his TruNews broadcast.

“The people who are going in to the synagogue are coming out of the synagogue with the virus,” Wiles said. “It’s spreading in Israel through the synagogues. God is spreading it in your synagogues! You are under judgment because you oppose his son, Jesus Christ. That is why you have a plague in your synagogues. Repent and believe on the name of Jesus Christ, and the plague will stop.”

Wiles also claimed that the US outbreak started at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee policy conference in Washington, D.C., in early March. In fact, the first case and the first outbreak were both reported in Washington state.

In November, Wiles called the impeachment effort a “Jew coup,” and said that Jews will also “kill millions of Christians.” Wiles’ TruNews website regularly releases antisemitic, Islamophobic and homophobic videos.

In February, TruNews was permanently banned from YouTube, but it continues to receive media credentials from the White House.