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by Brandon Jarvis

Leon Benjamin, the current and former Republican candidate in Virginia’s fourth congressional district compared Democrats to the Church of Satan in a recent fundraising email for his congressional campaign. The email was based on an interaction that Benjamin had on Twitter with the verified Church of Satan account. 

“You know I’m doing something right if the Church of Satan is attacking me,” Benjamin tweeted, then screenshot it and placed it at the top of a fundraising email. “Yes, you read that correctly,” the email begins. “Satanists and Democrats are on the same side—both want to tear down our Judeo-Christian values and replace them with their sick and twisted belief system. I’m running from Congress precisely to stop this from happening!”

The website for the Church of Satan says they do not worship the devil, but instead they worship themselves.

Benjamin describes himself as a “Black conservative pastor, Navy veteran, and America First conservative fighting for our Judeo-Christian values against all else!” He ran against the current Rep. Donald McEachin (D-Richmond) in 2020 and lost by 23 points. Benjamin never conceded and is now running again.

“I’m not bending a knee to Democrats,” Benjamin said in the email “I’m not bending a knee to Satan.”

He also accused the Democrats of exploiting the Black community and criticized the Republican Party for not making a serious attempt at reaching out to inner-city communities. “Nowhere is that clearer than in inner cities,” he wrote. “As a Black man, I see the stranglehold the Democrat party has on the Black vote. And the lack of a serious attempt by Republicans to break it.” 

Benjamin then continued to accuse Democrats of brainwashing voters into believing that the Republican Party is racist. “They have an entire voting bloc brainwashed into believing that Republicans are racists,” he wrote. “Meanwhile, the Democrat governor of Virginia is a black-face wearing racist.”

Benjamin often brings up God and the devil on the campaign trail. “We need God back in our schools, he tweeted recently. “The devil is at work and is corrupting our children.” 

He also has advocated for overturning the 2020 election results. He hosted a “Stop the Steal” event outside of the Virginia Capitol in December of 2020 and led a chant calling for an immediate audit of the election results. “Talk to you legislators, don’t let them get any sleep,” Benjamin encouraged the event attendees. 

There is no evidence of any election fraud taking place in Virginia. 

President Joe Biden won the commonwealth by ten points. 

In the fundraising email, Benjamin praised and described his relationship with former President Donald Trump. “During the first year of Trump’s Presidency, I played a vital role in a group of about 20 to 30 evangelical leaders who regularly serve as informal advisers to the Trump administration,” Benjamin wrote. “I’ve had the honor of acting as a surrogate for the President on Fox News, Fox Business, and national shows around the nation. I am a strong supporter of the President. Under his leadership, this nation has soared back to new heights.”

Benjamin did not respond immediately to calls and emails from Virginia Scope Sunday night on whether he believes Democrats are the same as the Church of Satan. 

There are no other declared Republican candidates at this time. 


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By vascope