The President is having to deal with a den of vipers

This one was uttered by an evangelical Trump supporter.  It is a congruent conflation of “a nest of vipers” and “a den of thieves”, both meaning a group of individuals suspected of underhanded dealings.  “Den of iniquity” (a lot of immoral things happen there) might be in the mix, but I doubt it.  “Waliking into the lions’ den” (place yourself in a dangerous situation) certainly is in play given the context and its Biblical roots.  Here is the article where the malaphor is found:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/08/14/evangelicals-view-trump-their-protector-will-they-stand-by-him/?wpisrc=nl_rainbow&wpmm=1

A big thanks to Barry Eigen for spotting this one!