Missouri Representative Cori Bush, a member of the progressive congressional group “The Squad,” detailed instances of curing serious medical conditions through faith healing in her autobiography “The Forerunner,” published in 2022. According to The New York Post, Bush shared stories of healing a child’s brain bleed and helping a woman overcome tumors using faith-based methods. She is part of a circle of individuals who also claim to possess similar faith-based abilities, such as her bodyguard who believes he is 109 trillion years old and can summon tornadoes, as well as a pastor who asserts supernatural healing powers, as reported by The Washington Free Beacon.
“One woman whom we met had several visible tumors on her torso,” Bush recalled in her autobiography. “She was due to have surgery but lacked health insurance and [was]living in the park. One of the tumors was particularly painful to her. I laid hands on her and prayed, and I felt that my hand was no longer touching a tumor. It shrank along with the others on her body.”
According to the Free Beacon, Bush dedicated a significant amount of time serving as a faith healer for Kingdom Embassy International churches. This group asserts that they have successfully brought the deceased back to life and cured individuals of ailments such as AIDS, cancer, and paralysis. The head pastor of the church, Charles Ndifon, claims to have healed Bush of COVID-19 by means of a 30-minute phone conversation. Additionally, Bush recounts in her book an incident where she allegedly bestowed the gift of walking upon a disabled child through faith healing.
“The child had a bleed in her brain, shortly after she was born, and so couldn’t walk. She had never taken a step in her life,” Bush wrote. I carried the child from the prayer room in the back of the church out into the sanctuary . . . ‘Walk,’ I said gently to the three-year-old girl, ‘you will walk.’ And this girl took her first step. Then another, and another. She walked.”
“I don’t think what she’s claiming happened,” University of California San Francisco School of Medicine professor Dr. Monica Gandhi said, according to the Post. “Definitely as a physician I would encourage people to seek treatment for cancer and other ailments.”
Bush is facing a tough challenge in the upcoming Democratic primary election, as she is currently trailing Wesley Bell, the Prosecuting Attorney of St. Louis County, by a significant margin of 22 points according to a recent poll conducted in February. Additionally, the Department of Justice is currently investigating allegations of her misusing federal funds for private security, which could further complicate her political future.
