A few weeks ago, we noted that Ted Cruz’s presidential campaign had proudly announced the endorsement of Mike Bickle, the head of the controversial International House of Prayer and an extremist pastor who believes, among other things, that Oprah Winfrey is a forerunner to the Antichrist.

Among Bickle’s more radical views is his prophecy that as the End Times approach, all Jews will be given a chance to accept Jesus, warning that if they do not accept “the grace” of Christ, God will then “raise up a hunter” who will kill two-thirds of them “and the most famous hunter in recent history is a man named Adolf Hitler”:

Such views have understandably alarmed Jewish groups who have called on the Cruz campaign to distance itself from Bickle and his views … but the Cruz campaign is doing no such thing and is, in fact, defending Bickle’s comments:

Ted Cruz’s presidential campaign defended an endorsement from a controversial pastor who has called Adolf Hitler a hunter “raised up” by God and actively seeks to convert Jews. Kansas evangelical Pastor Mike Bickle, whose endorsement the campaign publicized last month, runs a project called “Israel Mandate,” one of whose goals is “partnering with Messianic Jews for the salvation of the Jewish people.” In a sermon in 2011, Bickle said God would give Jews a chance to convert to Christianity and “raise up the hunters” against Jews who refuse. Bickle called Hitler “the most famous hunter in recent history.” In 2005, Bickle said in a sermon that before Jesus’ coming, “a significant number of Jews will be in work camps, prison camps or death camps.” Nick Muzin, a senior adviser to the Texas senator’s campaign, said Bickle was referring to biblical passages. “Our campaign welcomes support from faith leaders across the country,” Muzin said in a statement, according to Jewish Insider. “Mike Bickle is one of the hundreds who have endorsed us. My understanding is that he was paraphrasing the words of the prophets Jeremiah and Zechariah. I know that he has made support for Israel and the Jewish people a central part of his mission.” … Muzin said Cruz has 70 rabbis endorsing him. “No one has a better record than Senator Cruz when it comes to standing with Israel, fighting against radical Islamic terror, and combating global anti-Semitism,” Muzin said in the statement. “We are proud of the support we are building in both communities and see them as complementary, and part of our larger goal of restoring Judeo-Christian leadership values to America and the world.”

This comes as no surprise given that the Cruz campaign likewise refused to distance itself from another radical pastor who openly advocates putting gays to death, claiming that his calls for imposing the death penalty for homosexuality were “not explicit” enough to warrant repudiation.