Guest Post: 2020 Wasn’t Stolen From Trump. It was Stolen From Us.

Does God honor the results of illegitimate elections?

Author’s Note: My friend, Matt Thayer, is a filmmaker and master storyteller. He has the floor for a Saturday guest article and had the amazing honor of being the last person to interview Charlie Kirk, which will soon be unveiled. You can follow his Substack here.

At the premiere of Thayer’s The Trump I Know, Las Vegas - October 2023

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Trump’s election fraud speech the other night was a pivotal moment in this nation’s history. As more and more election fraud continues to be exposed there’s a question I see few people asking: What if God was trying to clue us in on what was going to happen—and we just didn’t know how to listen?

I’m not a theologian. I’m just a filmmaker. A storyteller looking at current events and the information war through that lens. My soon to released film CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? --featuring one of the last unseen interviews with Charlie Kirk-- is my own personal journey wrestling through this topic. Find out more about it HERE.

BACK TO THE FUTURE TELLING

Most people are surprised when I tell them one of my earliest memories was watching Reagan win re-election in 1984. I was six. I can still remember my grandparents’ living room—the lowpile olive green carpet, the sweet tobacco smoke from my grandpa’s pipe, the giant tube TV in the corner with the map almost solid blue (Republicans were blue back then. I think to contrast communist Russia red) showing Regan winning every state except Minnesota for a record breaking 525 electoral votes. I was six years old. I knew I was watching history unfold. I was mesmerized. And I’ve been following presidential election cycles ever since.

Another piece of my past that will become relevant is that I grew up in a conservative Christian church environment that accepted prophets and prophetic utterances as commonplace. I accepted this so much that I was shocked when I met other Christians who vehemently believed this was no longer a thing. And frankly that belief system still baffles me. Why wouldn’t He talk to us? If God is a Father—what kind of Father wouldn’t want to speak to and through His kids? I mean, if any of you told your kids that you weren’t going to speak to them and any communication with you was limited to them reading an instruction manual you wrote before they were born— wouldn’t that be SUPER weird and borderline abusive? But I digress.

Back to politics & elections. I also lived through a time when the Christian church realized they had vacated their place at the table of government & politics. This created a revival of sort with Christians in the 1980s-90s trying to claw their way back into the conversation. Being the a prophetic culture this manifested into a prophetic word or two around the time of our 4-year presidential election cycles. Someone would say something like “God wants so and so to be president” or something along those lines. Again, this was normal in my world.

To be honest over time I got pretty jaded about the prophetic community regarding politics. I was bothered by the surface level political understanding most of the people giving words. Like saying you’re a football fan but you only ever watch the Super Bowl. Back then I was known to say that if you want to know who the prophets would pick as “God’s choice” just wait until after the Republican National Convention. It’ll be the one with the “R” after their name.

Then 2016 happened. The number of prophetic words about then candidate Trump was ABNORMAL. Prophet after prophet after prophet came out saying “God’s hand is on Trump.” Again, I was used to this kind of word every four years. That wasn’t what was odd. It was the sheer amount. It seemed like everyone had a word about this. I remember thinking, “This is wild”. And I was not a Trump fan. I was a Ron/Rand Paul guy. A proud Libertarian. I thought Trump was a joke. And I thought everyone was jumping on board simply because he was brandishing the hallowed “R”.

But after Trump won (and honestly, I was glad he did simply because I was scared to death of Hillary) I watched him closely. His governance and decisions made me think “Hmph. Maybe he is the real deal.” The way he weathered opposition and navigated complicated situations with gusto & frankly Solomon like wisdom… after that, I dove all in. Full MAGA. Let’s do this. I even wrote and directed my first documentary THE TRUMP I KNOW during this time.

Then the 2020 election cycle dawned. And if 2016 was a prophetic anomaly—2020 was a prophetic OUTLIER.

It seemed every prophet and their mother was declaring words like “Trump will win bigly”, “Landslide”, “Sail right in”, “Red wave”, “Two terms!” and on and on and on. Again, the sheer amount of these occurrences is what startled me. Many multiples more than 2016. Why was this election different?

And then when the media declared Trump lost many of these people who said they were hearing from God backed off – apologizing for getting it wrong. Because the prophecies didn’t match up with what materialized in reality-- maybe God actually wanted Biden to be president?

But before we answer that question, we need to tell a bible story and then take a brief detour through history. Consider this a little weave as Trump would say. I promise we’ll come back to elections and prophets.

ON AUTHORITY

In the book of Matthew, there’s a story of Jesus and the Roman Centurion (Matthew 8:5-13). Long and short, The Centurion has a young servant who is deathly ill. He comes to Jesus. Jesus stands and offers to come to the Centurion’s home to heal the boy— a remarkable offer because this was ethnically taboo. Jews at that time were not permitted to enter the homes of Gentiles. The Roman stops him and says:

“Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

Jesus is blown away. He says he has never seen such faith in all of Israel. He tells the soldier, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.”

And that moment the servant was healed. It’s an incredible story. However, what stands out to me here aren’t the points most pastors would highlight. What stands out to me is that Jesus equated faith with the centurion’s understanding of authority. Authority is a big deal in heaven.

Okay now keep that in mind as we continue our weave through history. The fundamental question our American founders were dealing with prior to the Revolution was “is the authority of a nation vested solely on a king and his lineage? Or is it vested in the people?” The first three words of our Constitution make it obvious that they chose the latter. Here’s a clip from my documentary where historian William Federer explains:

We the People are collectively king of this country. Our founders created a compact, a contract, a covenant before God with the world as witness. Contractually, in our country, authority flows from the people.

Did the American people choose Biden? Did we choose Obama, Bush, Clinton? Did the people choose Trump? Did the people of your state/county/city choose those who claim the title of mayor/council member/governor/senator/representative?

Right now—we don’t know. And based on the information being produced regarding our broken election system, the following question must be asked: how long have we been manipulated to believe our authority has been vested in people we didn’t actually appoint as our representatives?

God knows who won. This is one of the reasons why I believe we are still standing as a nation. I believe our people have been by and large making righteous choices. Remember: the 2020 election wasn’t stolen from Trump. It was stolen from us. We are the ones with the authority. God did not legitimately recognize the person the powers-that-be propped up (literally). God knew we were cheated. And God’s hand of mercy protected us because He “performs deeds of vindication for all who are oppressed” (Ps 103).

VIEW FROM 40,000 FEET

Okay—back to prophets. Based on the information now pouring out-- turns out they were right all along. Trump did win in 2020. But why did they back off amid the confusion? I believe it’s because we’ve reduced prophecy to a parlor trick and lost the true purpose of the prophet—to provide direction. Especially when it’s hard to see clearly.

I once heard a pastor say if God gives you a word once the chances are it’ll be an easier journey. However, if He tells you something multiple times its usually means—as a good Father-- He’s providing extra encouragement because He knows it’s going to be a challenge to get there.

Based on this thought, the sheer glut of words heaped on President Trump & the 2020 election should alone have signaled this was going to be an uphill battle. Here’s another clip from my upcoming film to illustrate:

There you have it. Prophecy is not determined by what we currently see and often flies in the face of what we think is “real”. And anyone who has become aware of the tactic of information warfare understands this. This is why we need prophets and why they are attacked so mercilessly. We need them to pick up on things beyond the narrative our enemies are trying to sell us. Those with vested interest craft realities with the goal of manipulating your belief system and stealing your authority. What we are told and what the truth actually is-- are very often two different things.

I pray that this exposure of election fraud is healing for the prophetic community. I pray that those who humbled themselves enough to apologize for saying Trump would win will be humble enough to recognize they recanted when we needed them most. And I pray that we will all forgive them and welcome them back into our good graces with open arms. In Ephesians chapter four, Paul claims prophets are a gift given to us by King Jesus himself. He knew we would need them to help perceive the path forward as we fight to spread the knowledge of His glory across the earth.

We are living through extraordinary times, my friends. Many thanks to my friend, Captain K, for giving me the opportunity to share my thoughts with y’all. For more of these types of ramblings, please subscribe to my Substack & check out my newest film CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?premiering on SALEMNOW on 9.10.26.