Pastor who hosted Ted Cruz calls Paris victims 'devil worshippers'

TED CRUZ TIMELINE Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has been making strides since his time in Harvard Law School. Keep clicking to see the major events of his life and how they've shaped U.S. politics.



Source: Houston Chronicle

less TED CRUZ TIMELINE Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has been making strides since his time in Harvard Law School. Keep clicking to see the major events of his life and how they've shaped U.S. politics.



Source: Houston ... more Photo: Andrew Harnik, Associated Press Photo: Andrew Harnik, Associated Press Image 1 of / 38 Caption Close Pastor who hosted Ted Cruz calls Paris victims 'devil worshippers' 1 / 38 Back to Gallery

A pastor who hosted presidential candidates including Ted Cruz in early November has called victims of the Paris terrorist attacks “devil-worshipers.”

Kevin Swanson – a Christian pastor who repeatedly has advocated for killing gays – made the comments last Thursday on his radio show at Generations Ministries.

RELATED: Ted Cruz says only Christian Syrians should be let into the U.S.

He referred to reports that the California blues-rock band Eagles of Death Metal had started playing a song called “Kiss the Devil” right before the massacre began at the Bataclan theatre.

"They went from singing about the devil to meeting him face-to-face," he said, according to The Telegraph.

He continued:

"The devil itself entered into the concert hall and showed concert-goers the works of the devil. At that point, we need to ask concert-goers, or at least the ones who survived, did you love the devil and did you love the devil's works as your friends were being shot up in that massacre.

"I'm deadly serious in asking this question. The microphone is in the face right now of those who attended the concert....did you appreciate the works of the devil when your friends were being shot up."

Swanson added he’s not taking sides in the clash between what he called “ISIS devil-worshipers” and “humanist devil-worshipers.” Eighty-nine people died in the ISIS attack on the Bataclan, and 130 people total were killed in the terrorist strike in Paris on November 13.

In early November, Swanson welcomed Republican presidential candidates Cruz, Mike Huckabee and Bobby Jindal to his National Religious Liberties Conference. Jindal has since dropped out of the race.

A week ago an op-ed in the New York Times addressed the topic of “Ted Cruz and the Anti-Gay Pastor.” Cruz was at the conference with his father, another controversial pastor (he called same-sex marriage a government plot to destroy the family in 2013) who was speaking at the event. But also the Texas senator has made it clear that winning the endorsements of the evangelical right is key to his presidential campaign.

READ MORE: 15 controversial quotes from Ted Cruz's father

Swanson has also criticized the lesbian agenda of animated Disney film “Frozen” and the witchcraft in Harry Potter. He’s stated God gave AIDS to homosexuals as “an act of kindness” and that the U.S. needs a “kill the gays” bill similar to what Uganda has proposed.

In an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper, Cruz pleaded ignorance about Swanson's incendiary beliefs.

See a timeline of Ted Cruz's political career in the gallery above.