EXCELLENT DAY FOR AN EXORCISM

‘Christian Warrior’ Candidate’s Dark Past Revealed

Fresh videos and posts unearthed by the Daily Beast have placed the Republican under growing scrutiny as the midterms loom.

A MAGA-backed ministry leader vying to be Colorado’s next governor once laughed about slamming his wife into a door, recounted how he threw his toddler across the room and declared that God gave him a “gift” for violence.

Marine veteran and martial arts enthusiast Victor Marx has spent years portraying himself as a Christian warrior fighting evil, telling numerous stories over the years about setting people free from “demonic oppression” and performing what he describes as “spiritual exorcisms.”

In a jaw-dropping interview a decade before entering politics, he even made unsubstantiated claims that his stepfather forced him to kill a man when he was seven years old.

But fresh videos and posts unearthed by the Daily Beast paint an even bigger picture of a man with a history of explosive anger and violent incidents, raising questions about his fitness for office as the midterm elections loom.

In a 2021 video, for example, Marx, 61, recalled becoming “infuriated” after his wife told him she no longer needed martial arts training because she was married to a Marine black belt.

“She goes, ‘I can handle myself’. I said, ‘You can?’ And I remember grabbing her, slamming her into our front door,” he laughed during an interview on a podcast called Protector Nation.

“I mean, it was a decent push. It’d be a bouncing push, right? She hit that, bent over and started crying, facing the opposite way.”

I-OH-WOW

Must-Win MAGA Candidate Executes Screeching Trump Reverse

The Swamp

In his own podcast in 2020, he also described an incident in which his son, who was then a toddler, pushed his young daughter so hard she started screaming.

“I reacted so fast and so disproportionately that I snatched him up and threw him across the room,” Marx said, later adding that “he started crying. And I’ll never forget, I went, what was that? I mean, I couldn’t believe it.”

He has also recounted punching an inmate at a juvenile facility until the man was bleeding, intimidating a mental-health provider by blocking the door and telling him he would never have time to call for help, and pulling a Marine Corps knife on a psychiatrist.

And at a Turning Point USA Pastors Summit in San Diego, Marx also joked that he wasn’t good at some things but had a knack for conflict, as he recounted a story about hitting a man who had cheated on his wife and abused his daughter.

“I don’t know, I feel like God gave me a gift for violence, against a manifestation of evil,” he told the crowd.

The Daily Beast has reached out to Marx, a political unknown who prevailed in Colorado’s GOP primary race this year, partly due to his devoted social media following, his own podcast, and an enthusiastic grassroots campaign.

He has also been endorsed by MAGA Colorado Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, former Denver Broncos Super Bowl champion Derek Wolfe, and a string of law enforcement and faith leaders.

Like former Democratic candidate Graham Platner in Maine (who was forced to withdraw over abuse allegations), Marx has leaned into his status as an outsider during his campaign as well as his troubled past—including wild and unverified claims that his stepfather forced him to kill a man when Marx was seven.

‘DOES IT MATTER?’

MAGA Candidate Refuses to Say How Many People He Killed

Erkki Forster

Pressed during a jaw-dropping May interview with local outlet 9News about whether he thought he had killed people as an adult, Marx replied, “Does it matter?”

But Marx’s Republican primary rivals, Colorado State Senator Barb Kirkmeyer and State Rep. Scott Bottoms, have called him a liar and a fraud and said he was unfit for the job of governor.

“I can’t trust you,” Kirkmeyer told him during their primary debate this year. “You’re unfit. You’re unqualified.”

Marx, however, argued that thousands of people could testify to his claims, telling the debate audience: “I can’t help it if I’ve had an extraordinary life.”

He now faces Democratic Party nominee Phil Weiser in November for an open governor’s seat, as the current Democratic governor Jared Polis cannot seek a second term.

Colorado has not elected a Republican governor since 2002; however, with affordability a major concern for voters, Marx is hoping to capitalize on the state’s cost-of-living pressures, housing shortages, and state government spending.

As for his relationship with Donald Trump, he has said he respects the president but would not describe himself as a hardcore “MAGA person.”

“I don’t agree with him on everything. But I believe the governor’s job is to build relationships with that administration, not pick fights for political theater,” he said in an interview earlier this year.

Marx runs a Colorado Springs nonprofit called All Things Possible Ministries, which claims to lead dangerous missions into foreign nations to deliver aid and “restore victims of trauma.” But this isn’t the first time he’s come under scrutiny during his campaign.

Last month, a former GOP operative filed a complaint with Colorado’s secretary of state’s office. The new complaint alleged that Marx set up a new campaign store to evade legal contribution limits.

The secretary of state did not comment, and Marx’s campaign manager said at the time that they were reviewing the matter.

See more of our coverage in your search results.

ADD THE DAILY BEAST ON GOOGLE

Farrah TomazinPolitical Correspondent

Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.