Who Is Ted Cruz’s Pal Mike Bickle?

Ted Cruz is starting to draw heat for his alliance with and endorsement from a far-right Christianist leader named Mike Bickle, who says God sent Hitler to hunt Jews, that a new era of concentration camps awaits Jews before they find Jesus. Jesus will also soon kill the head of the United Nations at some point in the near future among other things Bickle says Jesus is working on. In other words, he’s an awesome guy. And he’s out there raising support Cruz among evangelicals. But among other things Bickle runs something called the International House of Prayer (yes, IHOP!) in Grandview, Missouri. And a year ago, Sarah Posner wrote a lengthy expose on the mix of fanaticism, abusive practices toward young volunteers and even criminality that seems rife in the place. You can read it right here. It’s an amazing piece (sub req).