By Mason Edwards, Chattanooga Times Free Press
A Chattanooga pastor ended up in the crosshairs of the richest man in the world and the mayor of Hamilton County after a sermon in which he criticized DOGE's efforts at the U.S. Treasury Department.
"I'll say to you, beloved, no one likes violence, but sometimes violence is necessary," the Rev. Steve Caudle of Greater Second Missionary Baptist Church said in a sermon Sunday. "When Elon Musk forces his way into the United States Treasury and threatens to steal your personal information and your Social Security check, there is the possibility of violence. Sometimes the devil will act so ugly that you have no other choice but to get violent and fight."
Musk, owner of SpaceX, Tesla and the X social media platform, among other things, has been put in charge of the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, by President Donald Trump. A group of his technology proteges have been going through government departments, including the U.S. Treasury, seeking to root out waste, fraud and abuse — and sparking criticism and lawsuits. Their activity and level of access to personal information is in dispute.
"Disgraceful," conservative commentator Charlie Kirk said, posting a video of Caudle's sermon, receiving over 5.8 million views on X.
"This tells me that he is trying to hide MASSIVE fraud," Musk replied, receiving over 100,000 likes on his platform.
This tells me that he is trying to hide MASSIVE fraud https://t.co/VMC4LmYnwG
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 10, 2025
Caudle pushed back against the criticism.
"This is taken completely out of context. I was not talking about physical violence," Caudle said. "Every preacher knows the difference between spiritual warfare and physical warfare."
In an interview, Caudle said he stands by his statements.
"We preached this ever since there's been a Black church," Caudle said. "This is the message of the Black preacher. We will preach to the issues of our day — racism, sexism, xenophobia."
When informed about Elon Musk's comments about hiding financial fraud, Caudle asked if Musk would help him find the fraud.
"AI wrote that," Caudle laughed about the Musk comment. "Massive fraud, from where? They buy that crap?"
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Elon Musk criticizes Chattanooga pastor after sermon refers to violence
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(READ MORE: Federal judge blocks Elon Musk's DOGE from accessing sensitive US Treasury Department material)
In addition to his role as pastor, Caudle serves on the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission, which makes zoning and land use recommendations to local legislative bodies, according to its website.
During the commission's Monday meeting, County Mayor Weston Wamp asked for Caudle's immediate resignation.
Caudle stated that he will not step down.
"[Wamp] has no right to do that," Caudle said by phone. "I am extremely disappointed and really stunned that he would move so quickly and did not even bother to even talk with me. If he had any kind of pride in himself as a man, he should have asked me [what the sermon was about]."
Wamp's press secretary, Haley Burton, referred a request for comment to the mayor's response on X.
"Totally unacceptable for Rev. Caudle to use the pulpit to justify violence against the Trump Administration and @elonmusk," Wamp wrote. "Hateful rhetoric has no place in Hamilton County, especially from a pastor."
Caudle said the attention, much of it negative, has raised security concerns for his Shallowford Road church and his congregation.
"I'll have to, and we'll have to, look at beefing up security for a while, and we'll do that," he said in the interview.
While he remains firm in his stance that his sermon was misrepresented, Caudle said the speed at which the video spread raises broader concerns about misinformation and the current presidential administration.
"When you elect an individual who is a felon, a convicted felon, and he surrounds himself with people like him, this is where we're headed," he said. "We're about a third of the way to losing this democracy. I believe that this is gonna be Putinville, USA."
Adding to the firestorm, some online users mistakenly linked Caudle's church with Second Baptist Church, an entirely separate congregation in Chattanooga, on East Third Street. As a result, that church's leadership found itself caught in the controversy.
The confusion led Second Baptist Church to publicly distance itself from Caudle. Ernest Reid Jr., the church's senior pastor, posted a statement on Facebook, noting that his congregation had received "aggressive" phone calls due to the mix-up.
(READ MORE: Blackburn's DOGE Acts would return employees to office, move agencies)
As the controversy spread, local resident and part-time radio broadcaster Jason Walker purchased the domain name stevecaudle.com and redirected it to the viral sermon clip. Walker, who spent nearly 20 years in Chattanooga radio before moving into hotel management, said he wanted to ensure more people saw the video.
"If Dr. Caudle wants to advocate for violence, as many people as possible should see his message," Walker said. "I'm not trying to rabble-rouse. It's just this type of thing is truly dangerous. If you come to a pulpit with a political opinion and you can back it up with facts, we can debate in the marketplace of ideas. But when you're telling people that Musk is stealing their Social Security checks, and you're telling people that from a position of authority, it's dangerous. That's one of the reasons why the tenor of our national conversation has become so unhealthy."
Greater Second Missionary Baptist Church describes itself as a welcoming space for worship and community, with more information available at greatersecondmbc.org.
The Chattanooga Times Free Press reached out to the White House for a comment on behalf of the DOGE team and has not yet received a response.
In his sermon, Caudle expressed a desire for a peaceful resolution of current events.
"In this nation, I'm worried that we are on the verge of bloodshed," he said. "This is an attempt to take us back to a day that we do not want to go, and we will not go. Therefore there will be conflict. I pray that the peace of God will win out and overcome the madness that is attempting to take over this nation."
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