This Christian nationalist ticket in Michigan is designed to help the Democrats. Who is behind it?
Ralph Rebandt and Bernadette Smith follow marching orders from their General. Part 3 in my series on Christian Nationalism and part one in an investigative series on these campaigns.
This is Part 3 in an ongoing series on Christian nationalism. Click here for Part One and Part Two. At the risk of being confusing, this is a series within a series, as in this and the following two reports I’ll be focused on exploring the why and how of Bernadette Smith’s campaign - and as you’ll see it is all integral to this ongoing series on Christian nationalism.
My phone was blowing up all weekend after Michigan Republican Party (MIGOP) Co-Chair Bernadette Smith submitted her resignation letter to MIGOP Chair Jim Runestad, effective immediately. She has now filed to run for U.S. Senate as a Republican, challenging Trump-endorsed Mike Rogers. Operatives around the state were wanting to know who is funding her and what her agenda is.
Her new campaign for Senate is significant because President Donald Trump has already endorsed Rogers, who has spent three years building a campaign apparatus and financial war chest capable of flipping the seat. Rogers fared better in 2024 than any other Michigan Republican in almost 30 years, coming within half a point of victory. And just two days before Smith’s resignation, a reputable poll showed Rogers leading the top Democrat 47–40.
A GOP flip of Michigan’s Senate seat—held by retiring Democrat Gary Peters—would all but ensure Republicans retain their Senate majority. Rogers’ campaign is nationally significant in advancing Trump’s agenda. Thanks to Rogers, with Trump’s endorsement, Republicans are currently in the driver’s seat in this race.
So why would the state party co-chair resign from her post to run against him?
Especially when she truly has no path to victory - not in the primary and definitely not in a general election. Her tongues-speaking brand targets a deliberately narrow market of Christian nationalists that is even repulsive to most Bible-reading Christians and Catholics - and is absolutely revolting to everyone else. Not only that, her criminal past includes two mugshots, one for charges of welfare fraud.
To answer the all important why, we need to examine who Bernadette Smith is, who she aligns with, and the causes, organizations, and individuals she is working to advance. Over this three-part series, I’ll outline her connections to retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, 2026 gubernatorial candidate Ralph Rebandt, and Flynn’s Christian nationalist network.
Part 1 (this piece) introduces Smith’s alliances and ideological mentors and organizations.
Part 2 will examine the dark-money intelligence network funding the Christian nationalist movement.
Part 3 will reveal a trail of evidence that shows how these Michigan campaigns are most likely being financed.
The common thread: these campaigns are designed to help Democrats while pretending to fight against them.
These campaigns will not survive the primaries. They are deliberately targeting a narrow, extremist niche—serving as political purity tests designed to raise unnecessary small-dollar donations and cultivate a cult-like following they will eventually weaponize against the eventual nominee.
In short, they will enrich themselves while destabilizing the Republican Party—and in doing so, help Democrats win an election that their election-integrity–grifter network will then claim was “stolen,” giving them more fuel to grift donations and further radicalize their followers.
Rebandt’s and Smith’s Shared Mentor: Michael Flynn
To understand Bernadette Smith’s motivations, we must begin with her alliance with retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn—and she’s not alone. Both Smith and Rebandt count Flynn as a mentor in their political rise.
Smith has publicly partnered with Flynn on outreach events—for example, when Flynn helped Smith take credit for the outreach work of then–MIGOP Ethnic Vice Chair Rola Makki, who secured the support of Hamtramck Mayor Amer Ghalib for Trump. Smith also received Flynn’s endorsement during her bid for RNC Committeewoman.
Starting in 2023, Smith served as Chairwoman of The America Project, the organization formed by Flynn and self-admitted “national intelligence asset” Patrick Byrne that oversaw and ran into the ground the failed Arizona audit and promoted countless made up and fraudulent claims of machine fraud. I have also shown repeatedly how this organization is largely responsible for causing Tina Peters to commit the crimes that put her in prison - and paid, in part, for her disastrously bad legal defense that ensures she will stay there.
Rebandt, a pastor-turned-politician, likewise received Flynn’s endorsement in his 2024 campaign for RNC Committeeman. In 2022 he ran for governor on a Christian nationalist platform modeled after Flynn’s ReAwaken Tour. And when he launched his 2026 campaign, the opening image and voice of his launch video belonged to the ReAwaken Tour’s Clay Clark.
Rebandt boasted that he was the only Michigan gubernatorial candidate invited to speak at a Flynn-attended rally. Both Rebandt and Smith have been regulars at Flynn and Clay Clark’s ReAwaken America Tour, promoting Flynn’s brand of militant politics cloaked in religious language.
Both Rebandt and Smith frequently espouse theocratic ideas. At this year’s Mackinac Conference, Rebandt said he wanted to be governor so he could “evangelize” the state and make Michigan a “Christian state.”
They were ardent supporters of failed former MIGOP Chair Kristina Karamo—even weeks after she was removed from the position with Trump’s support but refused to leave.
Another point of connection came ahead of the March 2024 state GOP convention, when both—then running for RNC Committeeman and Committeewoman—championed the so-called “closed caucus” plan: a scheme to strip Michigan voters of the ability to vote in primaries and hand that power exclusively to party delegates.
As more delegates and voters learned about the plan, it became repulsive to all but a handful of self-styled “grassroots” elites like Smith and Rebandt, who stood to benefit most from the collectivist power grab.
The plan to rob voters of their ability to choose nominees also bears Flynn’s fingerprints. It mirrors strategies pushed by Flynn’s networks nationwide: when they lack majority support, they demand “delegates’ rights” to seize control—and once they gain power, they move to close ranks and consolidate authority among a loyal inner circle that can forcibly remove dissenting delegates.
Months after their defeats at the March 2024 district caucuses, both continued to complain publicly that their losses were illegitimate and that the “establishment” conspired to disenfranchise counties whose chairs had disenfranchised their own delegates by sending them to alternate fake caucuses.
Flynn’s imprint is unmistakable on both Smith’s and Rebandt’s political identities. He is their mentor, coach, and advisor.
The Sinister Agenda to Make Churches Into Spy Hubs
Both Rebandt and Smith have been involved with a Flynn-linked nonprofit, Citizens Defending Freedom (CDF). Rebandt’s son is the Michigan director of CDF.
I was the first to sound the alarm about CDF over a year ago, when I discovered video of its founder—Flynn ally Steve Maxwell—telling pastors that God wanted them to let CDF embed “human intelligence resources” inside their churches, provide professional media teams to “push narratives into the local community,” and deploy high-end legal teams to wage political lawfare “at the precinct level.” At around 2:30 in the video he lists the three “products” CDF offers churches.
When I began sounding the alarm, I listened to X spaces where Flynn operatives like Chad Caton and Boone Cutler discussed how many pastors they had recruited that week. One claimed 50. Another 40. One celebrated that Flynn’s movie was translated into Spanish because he was “calling Hispanic pastors and bringing them in.”
Flynn was later invited by Turning Point to speak at AmFest in December 2024. There he laid out his vision for the future, downplaying Trump’s next four years and warning the country may not survive without total grassroots takeover.
“This country will only survive,” he said, “if we get every single county back, every single town back, we retake our churches.”
He continued: “There’s churches out there… I’m telling ya, I’m a Catholic… and I’m telling ya, we don’t have enough preachers from the pulpits preaching exactly what we need in this country.”
This is Flynn’s vision—what he calls “Local Action, National Impact”: a political takeover of churches, redirecting them away from the Gospel of Jesus Christ and toward a false gospel of politics.
My Accidental Attendance at a CDF “Revival”
CDF is not a fringe group. Many large churches are involved. At least 41 churches in Michigan alone have handed their pulpits and congregations over to the operation. I accidentally stumbled into one of their “revival” events at the Caseville Cheeseburger Festival this year.
When I brought my kids to the festival, we were approached by volunteers handing out coupons for free pizza and bounce houses. I thought it would be nice to end our day of golf and cheeseburgers by hearing a Gospel message. Friendly volunteers kept emphasizing that “41 churches from all different denominations across the state” came together to put it on.
(If you read parts one and two, you’ll see the clear ecumenical red flag.)
As we walked into the tent, my heart sank—the featured booth next to the tent was promoting CDF.
Every church involved seemed to be part of CDF’s network.
Still, I tried to set it aside and worship Jesus with other professing Christians. The problem was that Jesus wasn’t mentioned—not once, outside the customary “in Jesus’ name, Amen.” They spoke of “miracles,” “baptisms,” and “God,” but no Christ, no Gospel, no salvation by faith in the death and resurrection of our Savior. Even the music avoided Jesus entirely—songs about miracles, “waking up,” and the Holy Spirit, but no Gospel message at all.
After nearly an hour, I bent down to my young son and whispered, “What do you think is missing?”
He thought for a moment and said, “Jesus! Can we leave now?”
Proud Papa moment.
We left.
A Man-Centered Religion and a Theocracy of Control
Flynn’s brand of Christian nationalism is not his invention. It’s driven by leaders like Lance Wallnau, backed by deep pockets and shadow networks, and—as I’ll show in Part Two—intertwined with elements of U.S. military intelligence.
In the name of Christ, they promote a Gospel-plus-politics worldview that elevates man’s power and claims divine authority to take over every sphere of culture and government. Their worldview diminishes the power and sovereignty of Jesus Christ, replacing trust in God with an obsession over political control.
And, crucially, it is not concerned at all with actually winning elections, but instead blames the Republican party for our nation’s problems, espousing a “burn it all down” attitude and labeling anyone who doesn’t align with their antifa-like methods RINO establishment.
Unsurprisingly, adherents of this movement exhibit the fruits of the flesh: greed, malice, envy, slander, and hatred. Jesus told us how to identify false teachings: “By their fruits you shall know them.”
Flynn’s influence matters because it connects Smith and Rebandt to a broader movement working to upend the GOP from within, assist Democrats in various ways, and infiltrate churches with false teachings by transforming them into political organizations. Flynn has spent years touring the country promoting far-right candidates and conspiracy narratives—often under the banner of church-based activism. Smith and Rebandt are products and figureheads of that machine. Their alliance with Flynn suggests these campaigns are not personal whims but coordinated moves by a disciplined faction within the party.
Smith’s resignation letter to Chair Runestad came abruptly, fueling speculation—now confirmed—that she would run for the U.S. Senate. Why challenge Mike Rogers, a well-funded, Trump-endorsed frontrunner, unless she’s backed by an ideological cause larger than herself?
And another question many in MIGOP are asking: How is Ralph Rebandt funding his campaign? In his 2022 campaign he contributed roughly $90,000 of his own money, and insiders told me he said at the time that he spent most of his retirement savings on his campaign. But filings now show he’s already contributed more than $790,000 to his new campaign. Where did those funds come from?
The answer to both lies in the Christian nationalist network—with intelligence-community ties—that binds Flynn, Smith, and Rebandt together.
And we’ll dive into that in Part Two.