CNN guest claims Republicans Mike Johnson and Ted Cruz support Israel because ‘they’re rapture preppers’

A CNN guest has claimed that House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senator Ted Cruz support Israel because they are “rapture preppers”.

Appearing on NewsNight on Wednesday (18 June), podcast host Jennifer Welch said that it is a “very real” issue in Congress, adding: “That’s not foreign policy, that’s magical thinking.”

She claimed: “You have this whole sect of MAGA that supports Israel because they want the Jews to be in Israel so that Jesus can come back for the rapture.”

Many prominent Republican politicians are evangelicals and believe the second coming of Christ is directly tied to the existence of the state of Israel.

Also on Wednesday, Senator Cruz told presenter Tucker Carlson during a YouTube interview that he supports Israel wholeheartedly because of a passage in the bible that tells Christians “that those who bless Israel will be blessed”.