In recent years, prominent members of the Christian nationalist movement have infiltrated former President Donald Trump’s inner circle, and their influence was evident in the draft Republican platform released this week.
Russell Vought, a close Trump ally, served as the platform’s policy director. A former Trump administration official, Bought has since taken on an expanded role in Trumpworld, now running the Center for Renewing America, a think tank that seeks to inject Christian nationalist policies into a second Trump White House. Politico previously reported:.
Christian Nationalists The United States was founded as a Christian nation and expresses the belief that a far-right interpretation of the Bible should dominate politics and public life.
The 16-page draft of the GOP platform released this week is full of signs of ideological influence from Christian nationalists. The document, which is being finalized for the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee next week, contains the usual claims that devout Christians are persecuted in the United States. Christianity is even infused into the foreign policy section, which calls for “protecting our homeland, our people, our borders, our great American flag, and our rights under God.”
The platform is large Consistent with Trump’s core reelection messageUnlike previous years, this is not a detailed recitation of every policy the GOP wants to accomplish in the White House, but rather a more specific compilation of slogans and promises written in Trump’s own voice.
The Trump camp reportedly said I personally selected the author The move was intended to exclude groups that would include deeply unpopular policies, such as a nationwide abortion ban, and instead consolidate support for Trump’s symbolic message.
But even the pared-down platform embraces many of the tenets of Christian nationalism. The draft says immigration laws will be used to “keep foreign Christian-hating communists, Marxists, and socialists out of the United States.” Another plank promises to support homeschooling, Once a peripheral cause The Christian Right must respect religion “equally” and protect religious activity in public schools.
The education section states, “Republicans will defend the First Amendment rights to pray and read the Bible in schools,” and “will stand up to those who violate the religious liberty of America’s students.”
Vought also advises on Project 2025, a nearly 1,000-page conservative policy proposal that would fundamentally restructure nearly every aspect of the federal government and drastically reduce the rights of millions of Americans.
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The Christian nationalist movement has deep roots in anti-communism, anti-Semitism, white supremacy, and isolationism. Since Trump’s presidency, their agenda has combined religious right hobbies like ending gay marriage, banning abortion, and denying the existence of transgender people with MAGA global dog whistles about the dangers of immigration and diversity, conspiracy theories, and apocalyptic depictions of Democratic opponents and the left.
For example, Vought previously Advocating for immigration restrictions To those who “accepted the God of Israel, his laws, and his understanding of history.”
that much The most radical supporters A movement that has gained influence on the right Sees pluralistic democracy as an obstacle It must be dismantled and political champions like Trump must be considered divinely inspired.
Draft Platform It does not directly call for a ban on abortion. — Instead, use indirect language. Signals supporting the personality of the fetus — or a reversal of same-sex marriage rights. But he has also made clear his opposition to transgender people in public life, promising to “end leftist sexual madness” by punishing schools that allow children to transition and excluding transgender athletes from competition.
The draft also promises that Republicans will “promote a culture that values the sanctity of marriage” and change the definition of marriage from a relationship between a man and a woman to a softer euphemism.
And the Christian nationalist credo that Christians in America face widespread persecution is the driving belief behind one of the platform’s few specific policy promises: appointing a federal task force on “anti-Christian bias” to “investigate all forms of unlawful discrimination, harassment, and persecution of Christians in the United States.”
Vought and the Trump campaign did not respond to requests for comment.
Another member of the platform committee who embraced Christian nationalist beliefs was David Barton, an amateur historian who helped popularize the belief among conservatives that America’s founders envisioned their country as a Christian nation. Barton be laughed at He claimed that the separation of church and state was a “myth created by liberals,” and that the “first purpose” of public education was to “teach students to love and serve God.”
The platform committee also includes Tony Perkins, president of the anti-LGBTQ+ group Family Research Council; LaDonna Riggs, a South Carolina politician who helped raise money for the Christian nationalist group Palmetto Family Council; and Lori Hintz, a North Dakota Republican.
In response to being elected to the committee, Hinz said: Right Wing Conference May: “I am very pleased to have been chosen. I look at everything from a biblical perspective, based on my theological background, and I think that will be essential and very important to the platform committee.” Hinz and Perkins did not respond to requests for comment.
Since the platform was released, Barton and Perkins have complained that the Trump campaign has diminished the influence of outsiders on the platform, particularly by undermining the importance of abortion. But Barton still stands by the outcome.
“The 2024 platform is a proper statement of campaign priorities, but it is not necessarily the party’s enduring principles,” Perkins said. said in a statement As reported in The New York Times.
“This bill has many excellent provisions and is strong in areas such as gender equality protections, border security, fighting crime, and federalizing education,” he said in a statement to HuffPost. While it takes “the weakest position on protecting unborn life” in recent memory, he said, “people of faith still have a clear choice in this election cycle.”
