In his video about White-Cain, Shuttlesworth said many of her critics were “Calvinists who believe in God’s sovereignty.”
“So God made a mistake this time? I thought God knows what he’s doing and God has everything planned and we just accept what he planned. Don’t you teach that?”
Shuttlesworth later added, “maybe you’re just a jerk.”
Shuttlesworth was echoed by Lance Wallnau, a fellow charismatic Christian who prophesied Trump’s 2016 victory and hosted a campaign event featuring then-vice presidential candidate JD Vance during the 2024 campaign.
“I can’t believe all the people, mean-spirited people, upset with Trump for working with Paula White. What is up with these wackos?” Wallnau said in a Facebook Live video. “You know what it is? I think a lot of guys don’t like women preachers.”
In his interview with RNS, Wilson did not deny his opposition to women’s ordination but noted White-Cain’s appointment could be an example of Trump being “transactional.” The president, he argued, may have appointed White-Cain solely as an expression of gratitude for her long-running support, leaving her in charge of an office “he’s going to pay no attention to.”
However, Wilson said he would have preferred Trump appoint someone such as the Rev. Franklin Graham to the office, saying the president “could have done a lot better and shored up support among the more responsible, dissident-right types, as opposed to Jesus-wears-a-MAGA-hat kind of thing.”
Wilson, a self-described Christian nationalist whose profile grew during Trump’s time away from power, carries weight within Trump’s new administration. He co-founded a denomination that officially opposes women in combat and includes a church attended by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who has praised Wilson’s writings. Wilson, who appeared on programs last year hosted by Trump allies Tucker Carlson and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, has also spoken at events on Capitol Hill alongside Russell Vought, whom Trump appointed to run the Office of Management and Budget.
Vought was referenced on Wilson’s podcast this week by author Joe Rigney, an associate pastor at Christ Church, Wilson’s congregation. Rigney called the choice of White-Cain a “whiff” by the Trump administration but celebrated the selection of Vought, who is widely credited as the architect of Project 2025, a sweeping conservative plan for changing the federal government that has largely overlapped with Trump’s actions during his first month in office.
“Would I rather have someone with Paula White’s theology in Russ Vought’s job or would I rather have him” in the OMB, Rigney said. “And it’s like, ‘Him, because he’s actually going to do the things I want.’”
Rigney’s comments come after a week of defending Vought from criticism from alumni of Wheaton College, an evangelical school and Vought’s alma mater. When the school retracted a statement celebrating Vought’s confirmation as OMB secretary after alumni published a public letter voicing outrage, Rigney called the move “a case study in how supposedly conservative Christian organizations are hijacked and steered by the Left,” and has since championed a separate letter by conservative Wheaton alumni criticizing the school.
Asked whether he considers Vought a theological ally, Wilson said he doesn’t know enough about his personal beliefs “to pronounce on it,” but said “I would guess that we’d be on a similar page.”
