Why Trump's MAGA Resonates With White Christian Nationalism

On January 6, 2021, when a mob of Donald Trump's most fervent and militant supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol to prevent the certification of Joe Biden's election, Christian symbolism was on prominent display. Video and photography shot on the Capitol steps captured a mix of Christian and American flags swaying in the wind, a man carrying a sign with the simple slogan "Jesus saves," as well as dozens of posters, flags, and clothing articles featuring the cross in various forms. Later, on the Senate floor, a man now popularly dubbed the "Q-Anon Shaman" led the insurrectionists in a grandiloquent Christian prayer. At every turn, the most violent and destructive assault on American democracy in memory bore the markings of American patriotism and Christian faith. The event was laced with and driven by an ideologue that sociologists Philip S. Gorski and Samuel L. Perry term "white Christian nationalism."