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WWJD? Apparently, Vote Trump: The Gospel According to MAGA [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2025-04-24

A concerted effort to advance Christian nationalism in America has gained momentum in recent years—through U.S. Supreme Court decisions like overturning Roe v. Wade, Trump’s actions, and Republican priorities.

Public perceptions of Christianity’s role in America has helped fuel this movement. A 2022 Pew Research poll found 60% of Americans believe the founders intended the U.S. to be a Christian nation. Only 33% think the U.S. is currently one. When asked whether it should be, 45% agreed, while 51% disagreed. (Source: https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2022/10/27/views-of-the-u-s-as-a-christian-nation-and-opinions-about-christian-nationalism/)

About 63% of U.S. adults identify as Christian, down from 78% in 2007. Evangelical Protestants comprise about 23% of the population. Roughly 16% of them support turning the U.S. into an explicitly Christian nation—16% seek to impose their religious values on the rest of us. (Source:https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2025/02/26/religious-landscape-study-religious-identity/)

Yet, uniquely, the U.S. was founded as a secular nation—unlike European countries with official state churches. The Constitution, adopted in 1787, contains no mention of God, Jesus, or Christianity. Article VI explicitly states that no religious test shall ever be required for public office. The First Amendment, adopted in 1791, prohibited the federal establishment of religion. The 1797 Treaty of Tripoli, unanimously ratified by the Senate, affirms: “The government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion.” Though 9 of the original 13 colonies had a state-supported church, that ended by 1833.

Still, 60% of Americans believe otherwise. A better question might be: Which Christianity? The U.S. has between 200 and 300 denominations—precisely the diversity the founders sought to protect.

A 2024 Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) survey found that 30% of Americans either adhere to or sympathize with Christian nationalist views—10% as strong supporters and 20% as passive ones. Among white evangelical Protestants, nearly two-thirds support such views. (Source: https://bjconline.org/new-poll-29-of-americans-christian-nationalism-unchanged-from-2023-021425/)

Troubling beliefs accompany these views:

***Two-thirds agreed, “God ordained Donald Trump to be the winner of the 2024 election.”

***Over one-third believed “Americans may need to resort to violence to save our country.”

***Nearly two-thirds said immigrants are “invading” and “replacing” U.S. culture.

***Many agree that “God has called Christians to exercise dominion over all areas of American society,” and that “laws should be based on Christian values.” (Source: https://www.prri.org/research/christian-nationalism-across-all-50-states-insights-from-prris-2024-american-values-atlas/)

The question then arises: Are Evangelical Christians really Christian?

This question is especially pointed for the two-thirds of evangelicals who support Christian nationalism. The rest of evangelicals—including Red Letter Christians, Evangelicals for Justice, The New Evangelicals, and Christians Against Christian Nationalism—oppose this fusion of faith with far-right politics.

As Senator Rev. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) said, “Jesus is a victim of identity theft.”

The Jesus portrayed by MAGA-aligned evangelicals stands in stark contrast to the Jesus of the Gospels. Their version threatens the stranger, excludes the immigrant, ignores the poor, and shuns the sick and marginalized. WWJD? Apparently, he would vote for Trump—three times.

MAGA Evangelicalism has become more political ideology than faith, seeking to erode the separation of church and state not through law but through cultural dominance. In doing so, it aims to establish a de facto state church.

This ideology’s rejection of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) aligns with white supremacy. It weaponizes faith to ignore civil rights protections for LGBTQ+ people, women, people of color, and religious minorities.

Christians make up 86.7% of the 119th Congress—far higher than their share of the population. (Source: https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2025/01/02/faith-on-the-hill-2025/) Many Republican Congress members who are Christian embrace Christian nationalism.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA), an Evangelical Christian, embodies the movement. In an October 2023 interview with Sean Hannity, he said, “Pick up a Bible... that’s my worldview.” (Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/27/us/politics/mike-johnson-interview-hannity-takeaways.html)

Yet his support for slashing Medicaid conflicts with Jesus’s teachings in Matthew 25: 35–40: feed the hungry, care for the sick, and welcome the stranger. This “Parable of the Sheep and the Goats” makes compassion the litmus test for the Christian faith.

In February 2025, Trump signed an Executive Order to create a task force to “eradicate anti-Christian bias.” Critics like Rachel Laser of Americans United for Separation of Church and State warn it misuses religious liberty to justify discrimination—weaponized faith. (Source: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-live-trump-delivers-remarks-at-the-national-prayer-breakfast-in-washington-d-c)

At the National Prayer Breakfast, Trump proclaimed, “Let’s bring God back.” (Source: Ibid) Yet the same Trump, who said he’s never asked God for forgiveness, condemned Episcopal Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde for preaching compassion toward immigrants and LGBTQ people. Her sermon led to harassment and even death threats. In response, Rep. Josh Brecheen (R-OK) introduced a House resolution condemning Budde’s sermon as political activism. WWJD?

Trump’s performative Christianity is humorous. It includes quoting two Corinthians, holding a Bible upside down in Lafayette Square, and promoting the Trump Bible while being unable to quote a favorite verse from the Bible. But his weaponization of Christianity is anything but funny.

Christian nationalism is not a mere cultural sentiment—it is a political movement seeking power, often at the expense of democratic pluralism and civil rights. And Trump is its accelerant. While Christianity remains a vital spiritual force for many Americans, the fusion of religion with politics threatens both democratic governance and the moral integrity of the faith itself. The founders of America sought to build a republic free from religious dominance, where faith could flourish independently of state power. As the push toward a theocratic vision gains ground, it becomes ever more essential to protect the constitutional balance that safeguards both religious freedom and freedom from religion.

Day 94: days left to January 20, 2029: 1,367 days

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