Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit held at the Tampa Convention Center on July 23, 2022 in Tampa, Florida.
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Former President Donald Trump said Saturday “Americans kneel to God” alone.
His comments come as the concept of Christian nationalism grows among the far right.
GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert recently said “the church is supposed to direct the government.”
Former President Donald Trump said during a speech on Saturday that “Americans kneel to God” alone, as the concept of Christian nationalism continues to gain traction among conservatives.
Trump made the comment while speaking at an event in Tampa, Florida, held by Turning Point USA, a student conservative group, and posted a clip of it on his Truth Social account.
“We will not break, we will not yield, we will never give in, we will never give up, we will never, ever, ever back down. As long as we are confident and united, the tyrants we are fighting do not stand a chance,” Trump said. “Because we are Americans and Americans kneel to God, and God alone.”
—RSBN 🇺🇸 (@RSBNetwork) July 24, 2022
Trump’s office did not respond to Insider’s request for comment, but the remark comes as Christian nationalism and some of its ideologies have spread among the GOP. Recent reports from The New York Times, The New Yorker, and CNN all suggest Christian nationalism is on the rise, particularly among the far right.
According to Christianity Today, Christian nationalism is “the belief that the American nation is defined by Christianity, and that the government should take active steps to keep it that way.” Christian nationalists believe the US is and should remain a “Christian nation.”
They also believe in freedom of religion, but that Christianity should have a “privileged position in the public square,” the outlet reported.
A CNN report published Sunday asserts an even darker side to the ideology, claiming Christian nationalists use theology to justify sexism and racism as a means to attain an ideal White Christian America. The report said such ideas were becoming increasingly common in churches around the nation.
After Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, carried crosses or invoked theology to justify their actions, some argued the insurrection also represented a “Christian revolt.”
The concept and some of its ideologies have been touted recently by Republican lawmakers.
GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who also attended the Turning Point USA event, identified herself as a Christian nationalist in an interview this weekend while explaining that Republicans need to represent their voters instead of lobbyists or big donors.
“We need to be the party of nationalism, and I’m a Christian and I say it proudly, we should be Christian nationalists,” Greene said, adding that when the GOP learns to represent their voters, the party will grow.
Greene’s office did not immediately respond to Insider’s questions about how she personally defines the concept.
Others have been more explicit: GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, also a Christian and attendee at the event in Florida this weekend, said recently the church should be in charge of the government.
“The church is supposed to direct the government, the government is not supposed to direct the church,” she said last month. “That is not how our founding fathers intended it. And I’m tired of this separation of church and state junk that’s not in the Constitution.”
However, some Republicans have pushed back on such concepts, including Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, also a Christian, who blasted Boebert’s remarks and compared them to the Taliban, an Islamic militant group.