Last week, Politico noted that there is a cabal of rabidly pro-Trump prophets who claim that Trump will somehow return to the White House. Earlier this week, one of them, Johnny Enlow, made an absolutely frightening suggestion—in the wake of the Supreme Court turning back last-ditch challenges to election results in swing states, he called for a military coup.
As chilling as that was, it became even more so when I discovered that three days earlier, he claimed that so many people and agencies had failed the people by not recognizing Trump had won that “we are now down to the Supreme Court, the Military, and We the People.” Considering that there are now fears of violence at Biden’s first address to Congress, as well as on March 4, this post can only be described as incitement. And yet, as I write this, Enlow hasn’t been flagged for either one on Facebook. Indeed, when I reported both, Facebook didn’t deem them as violations of community standards.
This context is needed to understand a post from Enlow on Thursday.
I can usually get my head around what religious right speakers are talking about, but this took a bit of legwork. However, what I found out is unnerving when put next to Enlow’s earlier posts. Both Ishbosheth and Adonijah, as it turns out, are treated as usurpers to the throne of Israel.
Ishbosheth (sometimes spelled Ish-bosheth, with a hyphen) briefly became king of most of Israel after the death of Israel’s first king, Saul. However, years earlier, according to 1 Samuel 15 and 16, God had decided to take away Saul’s mandate after he didn’t completely wipe out the Amalekites. He had David anointed as king in Saul’s place. The two had a rather uneasy relationship until Saul died in a battle with the Philistines.
Ishbosheth then claimed the throne and was recognized by 11 of Israel’s 12 tribes. However, Judah remained loyal to David. War broke out, which only ended when one of Ishbosheth’s generals, Abner, threw his support to David. Soon afterward, two of Ishbosheth’s own generals, in an apparent attempt to curry favor with their soon-to-be master, murdered Ishbosheth in his sleep. However, David was not pleased that they’d killed a man in his sleep that he had them executed.
Upon David’s death, his oldest surviving son, Adonijah, claimed the throne. However, David had promised the throne to Solomon, Adonijah’s half-brother. With David on his deathbed, Adonijah tried to take the throne for himself. When this was brought undone, Solomon initially spared Adonijah’s life, only to order him executed when he tried to marry David’s former nurse.
So by likening Biden to two men whom the Bible deems usurpers, Enlow is effectively calling Biden an usurper. Now consider that this is coming from a man who has openly called for Biden to be overthrown—either via a military coup or by “we the people.” Calling this alarming would be an understatement. We already knew that there were still some putschist currents among Trump diehards. Sounds like Enlow is merely saying the quiet part out loud. And if Biden is an usurper, then Enlow is effectively calling Trump another David or Solomon. To this left-leaning charismatic Christian’s mind, Trump isn’t fit to shine either of David or Solomon’s shoes. And it’s rather ironic considering that Trump himself is the one who was the usurper.
One of my Facebook friends alerted me to this, and has already called the FBI about Enlow’s incendiary posts. It may look like an overreaction on the surface. But after January 6, it’s better to be safe than sorry.