About
Jericho March is a loose coalition of Christian groups that held a series of rallies and events in 2020 and 2021 to support Trump’s false claim of actually winning the 2020 election. The organization is co-led by Catholic author Arina Grossu of the Family Research Council, a fundamentalist Christian organization, and evangelical businessman Rob Weaver from Oklahoma.
The term “Jericho march” or “Jericho walk”references the biblical story about the destruction of the city of Jericho. Supporting Trump’s call for protesters to come to D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021, the group drew a significant evangelical Christian constituency to the rallies preceding the certification of the 2020 Electoral College results.
Both Grossu and Weaver had ties to the Trump administration. Grossu is a longstanding anti-abortion activist and Trump nominated Weaver to run the Indian Health Service. In the spring of 2021, he briefly joined attorney Sidney Powell’s group Defending the Republic, and in December 2021 was working with Project America, which remained focused on pushing the Big Lie.
January 6, 2021
- Prior to the congressional certification process on Jan. 6, Jericho March issued a statement saying: “Vice President Pence has the ability to elect the President himself and Jericho March calls on him to exercise his rightful power in the face of the blatant election fraud and corruption.”
- The organization posted images of protesters during the insurrection, describing them as “patriots” on its Twitter account.
- The Jericho March organization was a “coalition partner” of the March to Save America, the rally where Trump and his allies fired up the crowd prior to the insurrection. In December 2020, Jericho March organizers issued a call to action for “patriots, people of faith and all those who want to take back America” to travel to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 5 and 6 to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
The Big Lie
- On Nov. 25, 2020, Grossu issued a call to action via a press release, saying: “It is time for the people of God to activate in unprecedented ways. We have stayed silent for too long, but now the Church is rising up. Our God is mightier than any earthly power and He can restore truth and justice.”
- On December 12, 2020, Jericho March held a rally called Let the Church ROAR! in Washington, D.C. The event featured a number of prominent speakers including Trump’s former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, who had recently received a pardon for lying about his communication with Russia during the 2016 election. Conspiracy theorist con man Alex Jones and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell also spoke at the rally.
- Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganó addressed the rally via video, proclaiming that “truth will triumph over lies, justice over abuse and fraud.”
- Weaver called on right-wing religious leaders to support Stop the Steal efforts by making short videos.
- In an advertisement for the Jan. 6 Jericho March rally, organizers wrote that there had been “blatant election fraud and corruption” in the 2020 election.
- According to Christianity Today, members of Jericho March were praying “for a Trump miracle” on Jan. 6 while other more progressive Christians warned that “this Christian nationalism is not of God” and “nothing is more astonishingly seductive & dangerous to the saints of god than Trumpism.”
- The group’s since-deleted call to action said that members of Jericho March would hold “candlelight prayer vigils for Vice President Pence and Sen. Mitch McConnell on January 2nd and 3rd calling on them to be courageous, do the right thing, and not certify the Electoral College votes.” The group also planned protests “at the state capitol buildings in the contested states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin at noon daily.”
Election Audits
- In a press release announcing the “Election Jericho March,” organizers asked “patriots and people of faith to contact local, state, and national officials and demand full audits, that any and all fraudulent and illegal activities are exposed and that only legal votes are counted to reveal the true will of the American people in this election.”