Trump causes pastor to suffer 'intense vitriol and hatred' after mistaking him for TV reporter he abused

'Your attack was very purposeful and hurtful,' Reverend Jonathan Carl says of US president

A pastor has said Donald Trump caused him to suffer “intense vitriol and hatred” when the US president mistook him on Twitter for a reporter.

The incident occurred last week amid an international furore over repeated false claims by Mr Trump that a hurricane would “most likely” hit Alabama.

After a host of media outlets pointed out Mr Trump’s error, the president doubled down, climaxing in the White House appearing to falsify a national weather service map using a Sharpie to make it appear Hurricane Dorian had been forecast to strike the southern state.

In one of Mr Trump’s 11 tweets about Alabama, the 73-year-old lashed out at a “phony (sic) hurricane report by lightweight reporter @jonathancarl of @ABCWorldNews”.

“I suggested yesterday at FEMA that, along with Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina, even Alabama could possibly come into play, which WAS true,” he continued.

Mr Trump, however, had accidentally included the Twitter handle of a Baptist pastor in Kentucky, Reverend Jonathan Carl.

He later deleted the tweet and included the handle of the intended recipient, ABC News TV reporter Jonathan Karl. But the damage was done, and Mr Carl revealed in an open letter the fallout from the president’s mistake.

“Your drive-by tweet quickly brought a spectrum of intense vitriol and hatred my way. Although I was an accidental casualty caught in the cross-fire of your ‘lightweight’ tweet, your attack was very purposeful and hurtful,” Mr Carl wrote, in reference to Trump supporters who attacked him online.

“Many others, whether American citizens or global citizens, feel wounded and hurt by the shrapnel and side-effects of your ongoing Twitter attacks.”

He continued: “I’m not mad at you, I’m sad for you. My first reaction was to laugh out loud at your mistake when I saw your tweet. My second response was sadness and compassion for you.

“Our words overflow from our hearts and can quickly evidence the health or sickness of our souls. Your heart must be in a dangerous place to have such a consistent flow of defamation and disrespect towards so many.”

According to an online biography, Mr Carl, lead pastor at the South Fork Baptist Church in Hodgenville, is an Iraq War veteran and father to three daughters.