Walsh is a controversial host on the right-wing news site The Daily Wire and a self-described “theocratic fascist.” He also examined and talked about sex and gender in the 2022 documentary What Is a Woman?, which many critics have slammed as virulently transphobic.

Now, it appears that Walsh has aimed his ire at anime, a popular style of Japanese animation geared toward adults and beloved by many teens. In a clip circulating on social media, he answers a question about his anime opinions.

“I think it’s all satanic,” Walsh says in the clip. “I have no argument for it. I have no argument for why it’s satanic. It just seems that way to me.”

“All anime to me seems weird—just like bizarre, creepy,” he continued. “And in general, I don’t think that adults should be—whether it’s anime or any other kind of cartoon—with rare exception, adults really shouldn’t be watching cartoons in general, I would say.”

Walsh’s anime critique has attracted scorn on social media, including from certain Satanists.

In response to the clip, the Church of Satan tweeted: “Fairly safe to assume this guy has no idea what Satanism even is.”

The Church of Satan was founded by Anton Szandor LaVey in 1966, and its members are atheists who don’t actually worship the devil.

Raul Antony, a reverend in the Church of Satan, described Satanism as a “secular philosophy based on radical individualism,” one that “values carnality over spirituality.” Satanists, he told Newsweek on Monday, aim to enjoy life to the fullest.

The way Antony sees it, Walsh is playing into the trend of blaming Satanism for the world’s ills. In the past and even some today, he said, the term “Satanism” has been wielded as a “bludgeon” to attack the opposition.

Antony said that people like Walsh use Satanism as a sort of boogeyman—one that consistently captures the media’s attention and may even lead to increased revenue.

“[Walsh] knows that when he says something like this, it’ll kick up a storm—it’ll piss off the right people in his mind—and at the end of the day, he makes more money,” Antony said. “So in that way, that is Satanic.”

He added: “And that’s the ironic thing: By him saying something like this, it’s satanic in a way, right? The manipulation of people, events toward your personal benefit, that is satanic. And so in many ways, Matt Walsh is satanic in ways that he might be uncomfortable with, and many of his fans might be uncomfortable with, but that’s the reality of it.”

Other Twitter users, aside from the Church of Satan, have questioned Walsh’s statement about anime. User @logsdonjef sarcastically wrote: “Cartoons are weird and creepy. Now, would you like to join me on Sunday in eating some bread and drinking some wine that is actually human flesh and blood?”

Anime’s popularity in the United States has soared in recent years.

In 2003, the Anime Boston convention counted 4,110 attendees. This year, it attracted nearly 30,000 people. Meanwhile, the anime series Attack on Titan is currently rated No. 26 on IMDb’s Top 250 TV List.

Antony disagrees with Walsh that all anime is satanic, but did point out that some shows do have “satanic moments.” A character from the film Akira, for instance, winds up with superhuman, godlike powers.

“That’s a big thing within Satanism, too, is we say that we are our own God,” Antony added. “And with that comes a great amount of responsibility to ourselves and to others.”

Newsweek has reached out to Walsh for comment.