Progressive Christians are calling out Texas pastor Robert Jeffress for his prediction that America will face a Civil War-like fracture if President Donald Trump is impeached.

Jeffress said in an interview Sunday on Fox & Friends that evangelical Christians across the country are angry about Democrat-led impeachment proceedings.

I do want to make this prediction this morning: If the Democrats are successful in removing the president from office, Im afraid it will cause a Civil War-like fracture in this nation from which this country will never heal, said Jeffress, pastor of a Southern Baptist megachurch in Dallas and a longtime supporter of Trump.

The House last week began an impeachment inquiry following a whistleblowers allegations that Trump abused his office by urging the president of Ukraine to open an investigation whose targets would include Trumps potential rival in the 2020 election, former Vice President Joe Biden .

Trump posted Jeffress comments to his own Twitter feed on Sunday evening.

Jim Wallis, founder of the progressive Christian magazine Sojourners, said he considered Jeffress reference to the Civil War to be irresponsible. And by retweeting that statement, Wallis said Trump is giving his supporters permission to feel upset.

Trump since entering political life has evoked, capitalized on, and fanned Americas worst demons demons like racism, xenophobia, and misogyny, Wallis, who identifies as evangelical, told HuffPost. Its hard to say how much anger was already there in his white evangelical supporters, who have felt for decades like their pride of place in American society and culture is being eroded or actively under assault, and how much anger is new and the result of Trumps incitement.

Either way, Wallis said he believes the threat of evangelical anger is real.

On Monday, Jeffress told HuffPost he stands by his statement. He insisted that he wasnt advocating or even predicting an actual Civil War. He said he was asserting that the impeachment push against Trump would have devastating, long-lasting effects on our country.