Texas Senate candidate Colin Allred (D.) held a campaign event at a Dallas church on Sunday, receiving a shoutout from the church’s firebrand pastor, Rev. Frederick Haynes III, shortly after he attacked Charlie Kirk as a white supremacist and cast doubt on his Christian faith.
Allred, a former House member, attended Friendship-West Baptist Church as part of a voter registration drive for his Senate campaign. Haynes, a close ally of Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D., Texas) and Kamala Harris, shouted out Allred at the end of his sermon, who stood up from the pews to a round of applause. Haynes touted Allred’s campaign, and stated the current senator—Republican John Cornyn—has “got to go.”
Allred, a former NFL linebacker, is leading early polls of the Democratic field, though many in the party are urging Crockett and perennial political candidate Beto O’Rourke to jump into the race.
Earlier in the sermon, Haynes attacked Kirk, who was assassinated at Utah Valley University on Wednesday, as “racist, rooted in white supremacy, nasty and hate-filled.” Haynes denied that Kirk’s killing was an “assassination”—unlike the murders of Martin Luther King Jr., Robert Kennedy, and others. Kirk was shot while speaking at an event for his group, Turning Point USA, as part of the organization’s nationwide campus tour. The suspected shooter, Tyler Robinson, reportedly harbored leftist ideology. Authorities are investigating Robinson’s ties to the transgender community and an FBI source told the Washington Free Beacon Robinson’s romantic partner, with whom he lived, is in the process of transitioning from male to female.
“What Kirk said was dangerous,” said Haynes.
Haynes also cast doubt on Kirk’s Christian faith, stating that the shooting was a case in which “a white Christian got killed by a white Christian.” Haynes used air quotes to emphasize the word “Christian,” suggesting the label did not apply to Kirk. There is no indication that Robinson is a practicing Christian.
Haynes then issued a warning to politicians in his audience, cautioning them against stating, in the wake of the shooting, that “America [is] better than this.”
“You’re lying,” said Haynes. “We ain’t better than this. America was born in political violence. America committed political violence in the slave trade.”
After bashing Kirk, Haynes acknowledged he does not support Kirk’s murder. “Let me hasten to say—I’m anti-political violence. Kirk should still be alive. I don’t agree with anything Kirk said,” said Haynes.
Allred, who issued a statement on Sept. 10 calling the Kirk shooting an “attack on our political process,” did not respond to a request for comment about Haynes’s sermon. But he posted photos from his voter registration drive at Friendship-West and praised Haynes for helping “broaden our coalition and build strength on common ground.”
“That’s exactly what Rev. Dr. Frederick D. Haynes III of Friendship-West Baptist Church is doing,” wrote Allred. “It was great to join folks for service today and learn about their voter registration efforts.”
Allred has visited Haynes’s church multiple times during past campaigns. Allred attended a service in June 2024 as part of his campaign against Sen. Ted Cruz (R.), a race Allred lost by 9 points, the Free Beacon reported. “I’m really glad today to have a history-making, game changing brother,” Haynes said at the service, with Allred by his side.
Haynes has been no stranger to controversy. In 2017, Haynes posted photos with anti-Semitic preacher Louis Farrakhan, whom Haynes called a “wonderful man.”
Haynes launched into an anti-Israel diatribe during a sermon on Oct. 8, 2023, a day after Hamas attacked Israel. “I recognize that we gotta be pro-Israel, yeah we got to do that, or we get in trouble. Well, I’m coming to get in trouble,” said Haynes, who shouted out Jasmine Crockett in the audience during the sermon.
“Palestinians don’t have the financial backing from the United States that Israel has, and so they throw their rocks and shoot their arrows, and Israel is able to bomb them and kill them,” said Haynes. “It is totally unfair, but this country’s going to stand on the side of apartheid because that’s its track record. It stood by apartheid in South Africa because it created apartheid in this country.”
Haynes criticized Israel again in his latest sermon.
“God decreed that biblical Israel would be a blessing to the nations, not genocide and wipe out Palestinians in Gaza because of an economic agenda of profiteers who want to snatch the land and who want to build resorts on that land,” said Haynes.
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