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Trumpism

What MAGA Christians are saying about the Paul Pelosi attack

John Fea   |  November 1, 2022

We covered some of the original reactions to the attack on Paul Pelosi over the weekend, but in the last couple days the rhetoric of the Trump evangelicals is getting worse. If you want to understand how the pursuit of […]

“I think we have yet to find the limits, or the bottom, of who and what White evangelicals might justify in their allegiance to Trump and the Republican Party.”

John Fea   |  October 24, 2022

The quote in the title is from Robert P. Jones, CEO of Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) and the author of White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity. It comes from an interview with Jennifer Rubin […]

Wehner: Herschel Walker is a “perfect candidate for a fallen party”

John Fea   |  October 18, 2022

Here is Peter Wehner at The Atlantic on the GOP candidate for the U.S. Senate from Georgia: There have been plenty of awful candidates in American political history; what sets Herschel Walker apart is that he’s a wreck in so […]

Did George H.W. Bush take presidential documents to a bowling alley and Chinese restaurant?

John Fea   |  October 12, 2022

Here’s the former president: And here’s the National Archives: The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), in accordance with the Presidential Records Act, assumed physical and legal custody of the Presidential records from the administrations of Barack Obama, George W. […]

Trump’s desperate appeal to QAnon

John Fea   |  September 21, 2022

Here is Juliette Kayyem at The Atlantic: For a man who believes in nothing, has no coherent ideology or value system except his own continuing relevance, obsesses over conspiracies, and subsists on grievance and anger, Donald Trump took a long […]

When “Heil Hitler!” meets a Christian worship service and the preacher is Jim Jones

John Fea   |  September 18, 2022

Watch this from last night’s Trump rally in Youngstown, Ohio. From what I understand the music you hear was played in the arena as Trump spoke. Sociologist Sam Perry gets it right:

Why did conservative publisher Regnery pull Dinesh D’Souza’s “2,000 Mules” book?

John Fea   |  September 9, 2022

Perhaps the title of this post should have been, “When you lose Regnery….” Here is Tom Dreisbach at NPR: For months, the conservative provocateur Dinesh D’Souza teased that the book version of his widely debunked film “2,000 Mules” would provide compelling new […]

Can the GOP be saved?

John Fea   |  September 7, 2022

No. Or at least that’s what longtime Republican insider and former Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol believes. The guy who tried to tap David French to run against Donald Trump in 2016 is now organizing to defeat pro-Trump candidates in […]

How the populist tables have turned

John Fea   |  September 6, 2022

Over Labor Day weekend I reread Michael Kazin‘s 1998 book The Populist Persuasion: An American History and was once again reminded that throughout the course of our nation’s history populism has appeared on both the right and the left. (For […]

Was Biden wrong to call MAGA Republicans “semi-fascists”?

John Fea   |  September 2, 2022

Over at The Washington Post a scholar of fascism suggests that the phrase “semi-fascism” makes sense, historically, when applied to Trump. Here is a taste of Federico Finchelstein’s piece: President Biden has taken a firm stance on the modern-day threat […]

Is Trump’s “Big Lie” good for democracy?

John Fea   |  August 26, 2022

Here is The Editorial Board: We all understand that the former president’s Big Lie is ruinous to democracy, the rule of law and republican government. It fueled the J6 insurrection. It inspired GOP legislators to enact draconian election laws. It […]

The Trump superstore!

John Fea   |  August 26, 2022

Yes, such a thing exists. It is located in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Here is Jenny Powers at Business Insider: When I was in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, I spotted a billboard advertising a Donald Trump superstore. My […]

The “civic grit” of Liz Cheney

John Fea   |  August 16, 2022

Today is primary day in Wyoming. It is likely that Liz Cheney will not win her GOP primary race against Trump-backed Harriet Hageman. This piece explains why. Over at The Bulwark, American historian James Banner lauds Cheney for defending the […]

Eric Metaxas and Charlie Kirk have a Christian nationalist meltdown in the wake of the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago

John Fea   |  August 14, 2022

Conservative evangelicals went crazy after the FBI executed a search warrant at Donald Trump’s home in Palm Beach. (I haven’t seen much from them after we learned Trump had classified nuclear documents). We chronicled some of the initial reaction here. […]

Dick Cheney’s scathing anti-Trump ad

John Fea   |  August 5, 2022

Liz Cheney, in her attempt to defeat the Trump-supported candidate in the upcoming Wyoming GOP primary, called upon Dad. Here is the former vice-president:

The GOP is the party of “fear, hate, and grievances”

John Fea   |  August 2, 2022

Here is conservative commentator Peter Wehner at The Atlantic: Fear: If the hallmarks of Ronald Reagan’s speeches were optimism, hope, and a sense of limitless possibilities, Trump’s speeches are the antithesis. Trump is a genius at tapping into fear. In his […]

This is what the Big Lie looks like on the ground in Arizona

John Fea   |  July 27, 2022

CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan interviews attendees at Trump and Pence events:

What’s the difference between the Trump candidate and the Pence candidate in the Arizona GOP governor’s race?

John Fea   |  July 26, 2022

Trump is backing Kari Lake in the primary. Lake is a former television news journalist. Mike Pence is backing Karrin Taylor Robson. Robson is a former member of the Arizona Board of Regents, a lawyer, and businesswoman. Read more here. […]

You can’t make this stuff up

John Fea   |  July 26, 2022

If you have the stomach to learn more about how the Trump evangelicals are using Christianity to undermine the American republic, you may want to follow Ron Filipkowski on Twitter. In December 2020, Filipkowski, a Republican lawyer, resigned his position […]

Doug Mastriano and an Arizona election denier (among other things) exchange endorsements

John Fea   |  July 26, 2022

Arizona state senator Wendy Rogers just endorsed Pennsylvania GOP gubernatorial candidate Douglas Mastriano. Here is press release from Rogers’s website: Arizona State Senator Wendy Rogers (R) announced on Wednesday that she is endorsing Pennsylvania State Senator Doug Mastriano (R), who […]

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