On Nov. 3, long-time evangelical pastor and big-time Trump supporter Rev. Irvin Baxter Jr. died of complications from COVID-19. Based in Plano, Texas, his ministry announced his death at the age of 75. Baxter, a televangelist who appeared on End of the Age syndicated television and radio program and founded Endtime Ministries, preached an apocalyptic-brand of Pentecostal Christianity that has been practiced in the United States since the early 1900s. Baxter had been hospitalized for two weeks before succumbing to the virus.
A couple of months ago, on The Jim Bakker Show, while they sold “Pandemic Bundle” DVD books about the end of times, Irving Baxter Jr. explained his thoughts on COVID-19 that he had been “thinking about … the sin of fornication.” According to something he read in the “encyclopedia,” only 5% of new U.S. brides were virgins, meaning that the rest were guilty of fornication. He went on to explain that this may be a “wake-up call” from God. “This coronavirus may be a privilege.”
The Dallas News reports that his co-host on End of the Age, Dave Robbins, gave a press release saying that “Irvin went on to his great reward. We celebrate his life, but at the same time, there is sorrow; there is grieving.”