To hear him tell it, Victor Marx has done many, many incredible things. Over his years as a Christian nationalist leader, author, and self-described “high risk missionary” the Republican Party nominee for governor in Colorado has boasted of having personally rescued thousands of people from conflict zones and attaining multiple black belts in various martial arts. After Marx launched his political career last year, these claims have been extensively questioned. Yet, even with all of these dubious heroics, there is probably no wilder part of Marx’s mythos than his stories about performing what most people might call exorcisms and engaging in “demonic warfare.”
Now, Talking Points Memo has unearthed audio of Marx detailing one of these encounters with arguably the most powerful demon of them all.
“Hey, I’ve met the devil,” Marx said. “l’ve met Satan in person, through a person.”
@talkingpointsmemo Victor Marx gives a detailed description of an alleged “demonic” encounter. #colorado #demons #audio #podcasts #devil ♬ original sound – Talking Points Memo
Marx has tried to downplay his exorcism stories on the campaign trail. In an interview with Kyle Clark, a reporter with the Denver NBC affiliate 9News, that aired in May, Marx quibbled with the term “exorcist,” suggested “that’s a joke the way I say that,” and claimed, “I never call it possession.” However, in the audio uncovered by TPM, Marx specifically says it was “obvious” the person he encountered was “possessed.”
TPM previously reported that Marx’s 2024 book, “The Dangerous Gentleman: A Call for Men to be Courageous in a Culture of Fear,” contains two tales of him grappling with demons as they inhabited people who underwent incredible physical transformations including displaying “reptilian” eyes, “pointy” ears, and “superhuman strength.” Marx specifically emphasized that there was photographic evidence of one of these transformations. He did not respond to emailed questions from TPM including a request that he provide the photo described in his book.
Marx’s description of the encounter with “Satan” goes far beyond anything in “Dangerous Gentleman.” It came in a two-part episode of his podcast that was published on YouTube in February 2020.
“I’m going to tell you right now, I was praying for a girl in a youth prison, the largest one in Texas, maximum security,” Marx said as he set the scene. “This girl started manifesting a demon. It was so real that all the other locked up girls, all the other gang members, man, they all kind of huddled in a corner.”
The prison setting and other details from the story appear to match an incident described in “Dangerous Gentleman” where Marx claimed an imprisoned girl “turned reptilian” and he “could actually smell sulfur and rotten eggs.” On his podcast, Marx went even further and said he suddenly received an ominous answer when he asked the “demon” its name.
“I am Satan,” Marx recalled the entity saying in a deep growl.
Marx, who said he had “never really dealt with something that intense” made clear he meant this all seriously.
“If you think I’m joking, I’m not,” he said while telling the story.
He also described his own fear at the encounter.
“This demon was — it was horrible — just really manifested pretty nasty,” Marx said, adding. “It’s a little girl. … She’s a little girl, a pretty girl, just adorable, just like a little girl you want to bring home and just make her your daughter, except she had a demon in her.”
Marx also detailed some of their conversation where, contrary to his more recent statements, described the girl as “possessed.”
“All of a sudden this demon goes, ‘I guess you’re going to say I’m possessed.’” And I just — I just started laughing,” Marx recounted. “I was like, ‘I don’t think I have to. It’s kind of obvious.’ I mean, really, that’s — I just snickered, which makes the devil mad.”
Marx did not respond to requests for comment from TPM including specific questions about whether he has any documentary evidence of the alleged encounter and the fact his podcast is at odds with his more recent remarks. He concluded the tale by claiming he was victorious over “Satan.”
“I was like, ‘Well, whoever you are, you know, Christ, you got to come under authority of the Lord Jesus Christ right now,’” Marx said. “Because, see, Satan, he’s not equal to God. He’s a created being. He’s a fallen angel, right? Long story longer, that girl did get delivered.”
In June, Marx defeated three other candidates in Colorado’s Republican gubernatorial primary. His main current opponent is the state’s attorney general, Phil Weiser, a Democrat. While Marx is seen as a longshot, discussions of the spiritual realm and what Marx and others describe as “spiritual warfare” are becoming increasingly common in right-wing and Christian nationalist circles. This rhetoric is particularly inflammatory since it can — quite literally — be used to demonize political rivals.
Marx’s wild tales and supposed battles with “demons” are increasingly becoming an issue in his race. Last week, Marx skipped a debate with Weiser and independent candidate Greg Lopez amid mounting scrutiny over his past remarks.
Weiser’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment on this story. Kailee Stiles, a spokesperson for the Colorado Democratic Party, suggested Marx’s extraordinary tales call his fitness into question.
“Victor Marx doesn’t just tell outrageous stories about himself — he insists that they’re what qualifies him to be governor,” Stiles told TPM. “We know the reality: Marx is a reckless extremist and shows utter contempt for women. He has absolutely no place anywhere near elected office.”
The idea of real-life demons is a divisive one even within Christian religious circles. In his podcast appearance, Marx seemingly acknowledged some of his comments make even his own audiences uncomfortable.
“There’s something that we battle against that’s more than just our flesh. It is demonic and, whenever I start mentioning demonic warfare, the devil, people either close their ears … or I tend to find they will get afraid,” said Marx. “Like, if I mention the name Satan, or the devil, or Lucifer, I’ve spoke where people are like, ‘Shh. Oh, shh, don’t summon him.’”
Nevertheless, Marx doubled down.
“Let me tell you all something, he’s here already, or at least his demons are,” Marx said. “You kidding me? That’s what I tell people, you’re engaged in spiritual warfare whether you like it or not.”
