Mark Burns (pastor)

Burns claimed to have held a bachelor of science degree from North Greenville University[6] and claimed to have served six years in the U.S. Army Reserve.[6] In August 2016, those claims were disproved by CNN.[6] Burns attended North Greenville University for one semester and did not receive a degree. Burns served from 2001 to 2005 in the South Carolina Army National Guard, which is unrelated to the Army Reserve.[7] Burns said the false claims about his life on his website were the result of the website being hacked.[8] Later he admitted that he had lied about his education, but said he was attacked because he is "a black man supporting Donald Trump for president."[5]

After working at a McDonald's, Burns founded a church in Easley, South Carolina, then moved into televangelism.[4]

Burns was described by Time magazine as "Donald Trump's Top Pastor"[9] and named one of the "16 People Who Shaped the 2016 Presidential Election" by Yahoo! News.[10] Burns said he had usually voted Democratic,[11] which included support for Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election, saying "I'm not ashamed to say that as a black man I wanted the first black man to enter the office."[12] He later said, in 2016, he had "seen the light."[11] Of Trump he said "He's a smart man. He knows authenticity. I believe he knows and recognizes real character."[12]

At a Trump rally in North Carolina, Burns said that Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, who is Jewish, "gotta get saved".[13] Burns later addressed his statement and said he had not intended to criticize Judaism and that his remarks "had nothing to do with [Sanders'] faith or religion or conversion to Christianity."[14]

Burns offered the benediction on the first day of the 2016 Republican National Convention. Before the prayer, he addressed the convention, called Trump a "man of God" and called on Republicans to not attack each other, labeling Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party the "enemy." Critics of the message, including the Interfaith Alliance, accused Burns of inserting God into partisan politics. Later, he said "If I could go back and use different wording I wouldn't have said 'enemy,' I would have said, 'political opponents.'"[15]

In August 2016, Burns was criticized after he retweeted a digitally manipulated image of Hillary Clinton in blackface. Burns later stated, "I prayed that those who I offended really receive ... a sincere apology," adding that he believes that the Democratic Party uses black people for votes.[16][17][18]

In February 2018, Burns announced his candidacy for South Carolina's 4th congressional district in the 2018 election.[19] He ran for the seat Trey Gowdy, who was retiring from Congress, has held since 2011. Burns lost during the first round, receiving 2.48% of the vote.[20]

After the storming of the United States Capitol in January 2021 by Trump supporters, Burns was among those who advanced the conspiracy theory that people associated with antifa were responsible for the attack.[21]