A pro-Israel pastor who frequently criticizes sharia law and urges Jews to embrace Jesus stands as the leading contender in a crowded congressional primary in Oklahoma on Tuesday.

Jackson Lahmeyer, who created Pastors for Trump and works as a political activist near Tulsa, earned the president's endorsement before Tuesday's primary for the state's reliably Republican 1st District House seat. Additional major GOP backers, such as House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, soon joined in, lifting Lahmeyer above the nine other candidates seeking the nomination.

Much of Lahmeyer's national visibility stems from his repeated references to sharia law, a traditional Muslim framework often deployed as a right-wing rhetorical device. One of his main campaign pledges focuses on preventing sharia law from taking hold in the country.

On Sunday, Lahmeyer addressed claims from the Daily Mail alleging infidelity, stating in an X post that the issue had been resolved privately with his wife Kendra through guidance and prayer with God and spiritual counselors.

Oklahoma's 1st Congressional District includes a vibrant Jewish community that has recently invited Jews from Canada to relocate there, along with several prominent Jewish organizations like Schusterman Family Philanthropies.

Lahmeyer teaches about a Jewish Antichrist

Representatives from the Jewish Federation of Tulsa chose not to comment on Lahmeyer's run. Yet it remains evident that, if elected, he would bring distinctive views on Jews to Congress.

The Antichrist will be a political leader of Jewish descent, he stated during a church livestream on Oct. 8, 2024, the day after the first anniversary of Hamas attack on Israel. That is how the Jews will worship him.

In his sermon, Lahmeyer drew from biblical prophecy to assert that the Antichrist will speak great blasphemy and hold no respect for the gods of his fathers.

Lahmeyer's teachings on a Jewish Antichrist have raised alarms among some Jewish voters.

Jackson, I am appalled at this post. I am Jewish. I supported your run for office at every turn. I have children and grandchildren. Antisemitism is at an all-time high. I am scared for them. This is abhorrent, one X user replied to a February 2023 post where Lahmeyer asserted the Antichrist would be Jewish and homosexual.

Lahmeyer countered that this is not anti-Semitic at all. The Christ is Jewish. Scripture indicates that the Antichrist will also be Jewish.

Despite these end-times convictions, Lahmeyer has consistently presented support for Israel as central to his beliefs, embodying a Christian Zionist perspective that views the Jewish return to Israel as biblical prophecy fulfilled.

I stand with the Jewish people because God almighty stands with the Jewish people, Lahmeyer wrote in an Oct. 9, 2025 post rejecting accusations of receiving payment from the Israeli government for pro-Israel content. So those of you who are out there saying I am getting $7,000 a post, I wish that were true, but you are an idiot and you are wrong.

Matthew Taylor, a scholar at the Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies, explained to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that Lahmeyer's comments on Jews and Israel align with common Christian Zionist patterns.

He is pro-Israel in this very particular sense of he has a strong attachment to a theological conception of Israel, Taylor said. When it comes to questions about the Antichrist and whether the Antichrist is Jewish or not, that is all pretty standard speculation within modern evangelicalism.

Trump endorses Lahmeyer

These perspectives, once limited to Lahmeyer's audience as a local pastor, have accompanied him into broader politics as he evolved from a fringe activist into a contender backed by the president.

It is my Great Honor to endorse MAGA Warrior, Jackson Lahmeyer, who is running to represent the fantastic people of Oklahoma's 1st Congressional District, and has been with me from the very beginning of our Movement to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!, Trump posted on Truth Social, confirming his support.

Trump highlighted Lahmeyer's founding of Pastors for Trump in 2022 to rally evangelical pastors for his reelection. That same year, Lahmeyer lost a Republican primary challenge against Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford, whom he labeled a coward for not supporting Trump's efforts to challenge the 2020 election results.

Lahmeyer, who did not respond to a Jewish Telegraphic Agency interview request, serves on the White House Faith Office and Trump's National Faith Advisory Board.

He has built ties with the Trumps over several years. Beyond endorsing the president's election claims, Lahmeyer has welcomed the president's sons, Eric and Donald Jr., as well as FBI Director Kash Patel, to his church and podcast.

Many conservatives shift against Israel, Lahmeyer objects

Lahmeyer's ascent occurs alongside rising criticism of Israel and the US-Israel alliance among conservative Christians and right-wing voices.

At an event marking the second anniversary of Oct. 7 called The Case for Israel, Lahmeyer addressed the increasing visibility of anti-Israel figures on the Christian right, including Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens.

Both Candace Owens and Tucker Carlson, they are Roman Catholics, so to them the church has replaced the Jewish people, the state of Israel, and that is why they can make these claims, Lahmeyer said.

Yet Lahmeyer has avoided direct condemnation of Carlson's statements, even amid rebukes from Trump and evangelical administration members like US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee.

Some very influential leaders, all of whom I like, Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, Marjorie Taylor Greene, have taken a very controversial stance in regards to the nation of Israel, Lahmeyer told NPR in November.

Taylor noted that tensions over Israel within the MAGA coalition, pitting Christian antisemites like Carlson and Owens against Christian philosemites like Huckabee, leave Lahmeyer in a delicate spot during his campaign.

White evangelicals largely back Israel, with 72 percent holding a positive view according to an April 2025 Pew Research Center poll, though positive opinions among Republicans under 50 have declined from 63 percent in 2022 to 48 percent in 2025.

A lot of young evangelicals are moving away from Zionism, and becoming less sympathetic with the state of Israel, both theologically and just in terms of world events, and the war in Gaza, Taylor said. So I think it is a very complicated place that he is in, trying to kind of run as a politician in this moment where MAGA is fracturing over some of the things he could be very publicly identified with.