In an interview with controversial conservative Christian author David Barton last week, talk show host Glenn Beck implied that God was helping to sway the election in Mitt Romney's favor.
Although Beck, a onetime critic of the Republican nominee, admitted Romney wasn't his first choice, or even his second, he also said that "God is trying to make this so clear to us that if it happens, it’s his finger." The "it" in this sentence being the presidency.
The former Fox star also compared the decision to back Romney with a similar story involving a British loyalist who changed his mind and decided to support George Washington during the Revolutionary War.
According to the historically dubious anecdote, which David Barton has repeated on numerous occasions, loyalist Issac Potts came upon Washington praying outside Valley Forge with such fervor that he immediately rushed home to tell his wife that the British cause was lost since God was clearly going to side with such a faithful soul.
Beck went on to say that everybody he considers a "spiritual giant" feels good about Romney's chances in November, despite a series of NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist polls that show President Barack Obama leading Mitt Romney in New Hampshire, Nevada and North Carolina.
In a series of stories featured on Beck's show in September, the former skeptic praises Romney's character and record of good works, which he said the mainstream media has failed to cover sufficiently. Moved to tears, Beck apologized to Romney during the special segment and vouched for his character.
Speaking with Barton, Beck emphasized these stories and again compared the candidate to George Washington, Raw Story notes.
"That stuff is critically important because that shows [Romney's] character," Beck said.
“Nobody knew Mitt’s private life,” Barton agreed. “In the same way, you have George Washington. When you look at his private life, now you know why he’s a great guy.”
“And a politician to hide that shows even deeper character, I think,” Beck observed. “It shows he knows [God is] in charge. And he obeys. … He’s enough like [Washington] that God can change you.”
Interestingly, the George Washington comparison is one Beck has made in the past, albeit with a different Republican presidential hopeful. Last November, Beck said on his radio show that if there was "one guy out there that is the next George Washington, the only guy that I could think of is Rick Santorum."
This is also not the first time that God's involvement in certain candidates' fortunes has been intimated.
During the Republican primary race, a Romney aide told the media that his boss was so far ahead in the delegate total that there was no way his opponents would ever be able to catch up, according to the New York Post.
“As you can tell, all we have to do is keep doing what we’re doing and we can get to the nomination,” the official said. “For those guys it’s going to take some sort of act of God to get to where they need to be on the nomination front.”