Q: There’s the political case against Trump that you make. But I do want to ask you about the “moral” case that you’ve been making as well. That’s a word that you have used. In that monologue responding to Trump’s Easter post, you said that Trump’s comments were “evil.” And I just want to understand that a little bit better. Do you think only his comments are evil, or does the evil extend to Trump himself? Is he evil?

A: “I just want to be really clear that there’s a lot of evil in me and in every person. I’ve certainly experienced it in myself and I have seen it in all people. We’re all capable of evil. So I want to pull back on the judgment and be very precise about what I was saying, which is you cannot mock other people’s gods and put yourself in their place. That is a deal-killer for me. That’s worse than the war with Iran, in my opinion.”

Q: I ask because you’ve been talking on your show about whether Trump is the Antichrist.

A: “I have not said that.”

Q: On your show, the day after Easter, you noted he did not put his hand on the Bible during his swearing-in ceremony as president, and you said, “Maybe he didn’t put his hand on the Bible because he affirmatively rejects what’s inside that book.” And then on a recent show, you went further, saying: “Here’s a leader who’s mocking the gods of his ancestors, mocking the God of gods and exalting himself above them. Could this be the Antichrist?”

A: “I actually did not say, “Could this be the Antichrist?” [Video clip.] I don’t know where that comes from, but I know that those words never left my lips because I’m not sure I fully understand what the Antichrist is, if there’s just one. I actually tried to understand it. I may have said some are asking that. I am not weighing in on that because I don’t understand it, just to be totally clear.”

Q: In Revelation, the Antichrist is named in different ——

A: “Not just Revelation, but throughout the New Testament, there are references, and in the Prophets as well. But no, I’m not speculating about that. I know that people are speculating about that, but I would say it’s enough to acknowledge that Trump, like many leaders through history, is putting himself above God, but even on a more terrestrial level, to send out a picture of yourself as Jesus has got to be a red line for Christians. How could it not be? It has to be, and I wish that Christians would speak up when he attacks Allah, when he mocks the faith of Muslims.”

Q: So to be clear, though, that was not what you were suggesting?

A: “If I thought Trump was the Antichrist, I would just say so. If I understood what the Antichrist is, I’d say so, and I don’t really.

“Trump engenders cowardice in the people around him through intimidation. And there is a kind of quality that he has that’s spellbinding and I think it probably literally is a spell. And the effect is to weaken people around him and make them more compliant and more confused. And I’ve experienced this myself. You spend a day with Trump and sort of like you’re in this kind of dreamland. It’s like smoking hash or something. It’s interesting. Very interesting. And there may be a supernatural component to it. I’m not a theologian, but it’s real. And anyone who’s been around him can tell you it’s real. But whatever the cause, no one around him was weighing in strongly, as far as I know, on either side, for or against. But people from the outside were strongly weighing and calling him constantly.”