Trump promised Christians that his influence would increase as president. Courtesy of Canva/Mira Fox

With Mira Tilki
November 7, 2024

With Donald Trump’s election to his second presidential term, theories are flying about who will serve in his administration and what his policy priorities might be. Part of Trump’s agenda was clear through recurring themes at his rallies; for example, revenge against enemies and mass deportations.

But specifically groups of pastors and Christian activistsTrump promises something else: ideological influence over the White House and the country.

Powerful individuals and interest groups are trying to erode the boundary between church and state in hopes of creating a country governed by Christianity, and they see Trump as a divinely appointed soldier who will help them do so.

Many are guided by the tenets of the Seven Mountain Mandate, a Christian Dominionist movement that teaches that Christians should control seven spheres of social life: family, religion, education, media, arts and entertainment, business, and government—by force if necessary. To ensure that Christian values ​​are implemented in all areas of society. Although not all Christian nationalists believe that other religions cannot exist in their version of the United States, they all believe that Christians should be responsible for society to the exclusion of other groups.

As the country prepares for Trump’s second term, we have compiled for you some of the most important names of Christian nationalism and extremism.

Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert and Mike Johnson

Georgia representative Marjorie Taylor Greene is known for her outlandish statements about Jewish space lasers. But he is also a proud, self-proclaimed Christian nationalist and is pushing his party to appeal more to its Christian base.

“We need to be the party of nationalism” in question At a Turning Point event in the USA in 2022. “I am a Christian and I say this with pride, we must be Christian nationalists.”

Meanwhile, Colorado Republican Lauren Boebert has generally avoided openly using the term Christian nationalism. But he showed his commitment to his ideas, railing “Separation of church and state garbage,” he says, “the church needs to direct the government.”

Mike Johnson, the current Speaker of the House of Representatives, hangs a flag outside his office affiliated with the New Apostolic Reformation, a Christian nationalist movement. Although he too refrained from defining himself as a Christian nationalist, requested That the Constitution does not actually provide for the separation of church and state.

Lance Wallnau

Televangelist Lance Wallnau, pastor of the Christian nationalist New Apostolic Reformation movement, played a key role in voting for Trump. The “Courage Tour,” a series of tent revival-style events across the country, framed Democrats as a demonic influence and Trump as a God-appointed savior whose churches would take charge of the nation.

Wallnau embraces the Seven Mountain Mandate movement; This movement is one to which he himself contributed. Invading Babylon: 7 Mountain Buffaloes.

The New Apostolic Reformation is a loose movement within Christianity that has grown since Trump’s first term in office. It is characterized by its central teachings about the need for Christian political control or “domination” achieved through spiritual and political “warfare.”

Wallnau in the name He describes himself as the “father of American Dominionism” and a Christian nationalist. On January 6, he praised the rebels as warriors for God and refused to condemn the attacks. “Jan. “6 was not an uprising,” he said. in question In 2024. “This was election fraud interference.”

David Barton

Author and political activist David Barton is perhaps best known for his books that promote a false historical narrative that the Founding Fathers never intended to separate church and state and instead sought to create a Christian nation. His version of history helped Christian nationalists argue that their vision of a Christian country was based on the constitution, but this view is so riddled with inaccuracies that his publisher, Thomas Nelson, a Christian publisher, withdrew his book. Jefferson Lies – but not before New York Times Best seller.

Barton, who was chairman of the Texas Republican party until 2006, advised many Republican campaigns, including George W. Bush and Ted Cruz. argues He said the Founding Fathers “never intended the First Amendment to be a tool to promote the pluralism of other religions.”

Ziklag Group

Many influential Christian nationalist figures, including Barton and Wallnau, are involved in the Ziklag Group, a tax-exempt charitable organization that, under the guidance of the Seven Mountain Mandate, seeks to establish Christianity as the guiding principle in all segments of American society. It describes itself as “an exclusive, secret, invitation-only community of high-income Christian families.”

A. bodied ProPublica investigation This company, which provided access to the group’s members-only emails and briefings, revealed that the group spent at least $12 million to win votes for Trump. During Trump’s first term, the group recruited influential Republican speakers, including Ted Cruz and Mike Pence; The group also endorsed the nomination of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney-Barrett.

Ziklag’s own internal documents on its mission say the group is united by the belief that “the biblical role of government is to promote good and punish evil” and that “God’s word and prayer play an important role in policy decisions.”

Stew Peters

Stew Peters, a familiar figure at ReAwaken America rallies, a traveling event about COVID denialism that became a get-out-the-vote rally for Trump in 2024, hosts an eponymous podcast in which he espouses anti-vaxx conspiracies, LGBTQ hatred, and anti-vaxx conspiracies. antisemitism and Holocaust denial.

owned by Peters self-defining A Christian nationalist, he often clothes his conspiracism in Christianity, suggesting that he is trying to protect Christians from nefarious actors (usually Jews) who control the government and persecute American Christians.

“We all have a common enemy, his name is Satan and right now his minions are trying to rule the country,” Peters said. in question At the ReAwaken America event. “Liberals, Democrats, Communists, things like lizards, we have a lot of words for these creatures.”

Andrew Torba

Andrew Torba, founder of the alt-right social media site Gab, does not shy away from Christian nationalism. Torba’s clearly stated goal The aim is to build a “parallel Christian economy” for Gab, which also offers a suite of other sites such as financial services, messaging, ad sales and video conferencing.

The bag is openly antisemitic and encourages the spread of conspiracy theories against Jews that “psychologically and spiritually castrate” Americans.

Gab’s founder’s Christian nationalism is captured in a book on the subject: Christian Nationalism: A Biblical Guide to Seizing Dominance and Disciplining Nations.

In it, Torba advocates “reestablishing states that recognize Jesus Christ as King, state laws reflecting the general Christian faith and the Bible as the basis of state government.”

Nick Fuentes

Trump made headlines in 2021 after inviting online personality Nick Fuentes and hip-hop artist Kanye West to dinner at Mar-a-Lago following West’s well-publicized stream of anti-Semitic comments.

Even though West is a more popular celebrity, Fuentes has a loyal online following They are among a group of far-right “groypers” from various ideological backgrounds who all use Pepe the Frog memes as a calling card.

Fuentes’ extremist ideology includes violent hatred of Jews and frequent denial of the Holocaust, as well as intense misogyny and homophobia. But he claims these beliefs are based on devout Christianity.

In his regular livestream, Fuentes says things like: “God is real, Jesus Christ is God, and yet the country is run by people who don’t believe it and don’t live by it. And we talked about who they were, mostly Jews,” and that “we should save our country, tell the truth, and have Christian leadership.”

Trump apologized for having dinner with Fuentes, saying he was unaware he was a white nationalist, and Fuentes has since heavily criticized Trump for associating with too many Jews.

Yet Fuentes is an influential figure on the online right, along with other “manosphere” influencers who preach misogyny and hatred to young men. Although Fuentes was banned from mainstream social media platforms, he was reinstated on X, formerly Twitter, after Elon Musk took over the platform, where his posts received thousands of retweets and likes.