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

The concept is inspired by the biblical story of the evil Queen Jezebel, who persecuted prophets and was punished with a horrible death. The word “Jezebel” was used during slavery and throughout U.S. history to describe Black women, casting them as overtly sexual and untrustworthy.

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, arrives at Trenton-Mercer Airport, in Mercer County, New Jersey, Oct. 16, en route to a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. Jacquelyn Martin/Associated Press, file

In the context of “Jezebel spirit,” the term has sinister connotations, suggesting the person is under the influence of demons in a spiritual battle between good and evil. People who have studied the Jan. 6 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 has 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. Harris is a Christian and a Baptist, but when faith leaders tie her to Jezebel, Butler said it suggests falsely that she is non-Christian.

In the Old Testament, Jezebel is among the vilest of villains. She 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.

The term has a long history of being used in the U.S. against women, especially Black women. During times of slavery, the idea was used to justify the systemic sexual assault and rape of Black women and girls. It has been used in the past 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.

Who is using the term? And why?

The usage comes from a politicized movement of charismatic Christianity called 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 is at work on earth and has the qualities of the Bible’s Jezebel, although 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.”

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

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

Since that day, Taylor said, there has been 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 American public life.

Lance Wallnau, who has 1 million Facebook followers and is one of the leaders who has 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 was an early evangelical supporter of Trump and remains close to his campaign. Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance recently appeared at an event organized by Wallnau.

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

Wallnau posted a video on X 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, adding. “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.”

Meanwhile, Trump is described by some preachers with New Apostolic Reformation ties as being anointed by God, fighting on the side of the angels.

Wallnau didn’t respond to the AP’s attempts to reach him for comment. But after backlash over his use of the “Jezebel spirit” rhetoric, Wallnau posted on X to clarify 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,” Wallnau wrote Sept. 29.

The language has seeped into down ballot races as well. In Indiana, the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor said that 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 voicemails and text messages seeking clarity on his comment. Beckwith told the IndyStar this month 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 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 the Associated Press seeking comment, pleaded with the crowd to get out and 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.”