Wildwood, New Jersey - January 28, 2020: Man holds hands together in prayer during opening ceremonies at President Donald Trump's "Keep America Great" rally held at the Wildwoods Convention Center. Shutterstock/ Benjamin Clapp
January 19, 2026
ALTERNET
One religious scholar is warning that the 2026 midterm elections could prompt a violent response from far-right evangelical Christians.
During a Monday interview with Zeteo host John Harwood, Public Religion Research Institute founder and president Robert P. Jones – who holds an M. Div from the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. from Emory University — spoke about how President Donald Trump's MAGA movement has captured a vast bulk of Christian evangelicals. Harwood asked Jones whether MAGA Christians were excusing Trump's "brutality and cruel behavior" due to innate racism, or if they were simply people fearing becoming a demographic minority and overwhelmed by the "loss of life they were accustomed to."
"Do you feel sorry for the people who are embracing what the Trump administration is doing because they're scared or what?" Harwood asked.
"Well, I should just say I am those people. These are my people. Like I said, I grew up in the deep, deep South," Jones said. "... This is deep for me, and personal. It's a big mix of emotions ... I feel some anger about it, for sure. But I also feel some compassion, mostly because I feel like what has happened is they have let their own fears take control of their lives, and they let it snuff out the primary vision of Christianity, which is supposed to be about love."
"There's even now, in some white evangelical circles, a straightforward and serious theological attack on the virtue of empathy," he continued. "Like that's where we are, right? They're deconstructing empathy because Elon Musk has cast empathy as the great weakness of the Western world ... I think those people are sincerely lost. They're lost religiously, they're lost politically, and I'm hoping we can call enough of them back to the fold in order to save the country."
Harwood then asked questions from viewers, including one who wanted Jones' perspective on whether the United States was on the brink of civil war given the Trump administration's actions in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The viewer pointed to Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and residents of Minneapolis asking local police to confront U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, calling it "extremely dangerous."
Jones responded by pointing to parallels from the 19th century, in which Christian denominations frequently split into North and South factions due to fundamental disagreements over the issue of chattel slavery. He added that the Episcopal Church felt compelled to dismantle its refugee resettlement program entirely due to its disagreement with the Trump administration prioritizing white Afrikaners from South Africa over Brown and Black refugees from other countries.
"So we're already seeing some moves, and even breaks within the Christian world," Jones said. "I think we may be heading for some very difficult days."
"You mean actual violence or do you mean very, very intense political disagreement? Harwood asked.
"I'm deeply, deeply worried about the midterm elections being a flashpoint for violence in this country," Jones responded.
Watch the segment below:
One religious scholar is warning that the 2026 midterm elections could prompt a violent response from far-right evangelical Christians.
During a Monday interview with Zeteo host John Harwood, Public Religion Research Institute founder and president Robert P. Jones – who holds an M. Div from the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. from Emory University — spoke about how President Donald Trump's MAGA movement has captured a vast bulk of Christian evangelicals. Harwood asked Jones whether MAGA Christians were excusing Trump's "brutality and cruel behavior" due to innate racism, or if they were simply people fearing becoming a demographic minority and overwhelmed by the "loss of life they were accustomed to."
"Do you feel sorry for the people who are embracing what the Trump administration is doing because they're scared or what?" Harwood asked.
"Well, I should just say I am those people. These are my people. Like I said, I grew up in the deep, deep South," Jones said. "... This is deep for me, and personal. It's a big mix of emotions ... I feel some anger about it, for sure. But I also feel some compassion, mostly because I feel like what has happened is they have let their own fears take control of their lives, and they let it snuff out the primary vision of Christianity, which is supposed to be about love."
"There's even now, in some white evangelical circles, a straightforward and serious theological attack on the virtue of empathy," he continued. "Like that's where we are, right? They're deconstructing empathy because Elon Musk has cast empathy as the great weakness of the Western world ... I think those people are sincerely lost. They're lost religiously, they're lost politically, and I'm hoping we can call enough of them back to the fold in order to save the country."
Harwood then asked questions from viewers, including one who wanted Jones' perspective on whether the United States was on the brink of civil war given the Trump administration's actions in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The viewer pointed to Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and residents of Minneapolis asking local police to confront U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, calling it "extremely dangerous."
Jones responded by pointing to parallels from the 19th century, in which Christian denominations frequently split into North and South factions due to fundamental disagreements over the issue of chattel slavery. He added that the Episcopal Church felt compelled to dismantle its refugee resettlement program entirely due to its disagreement with the Trump administration prioritizing white Afrikaners from South Africa over Brown and Black refugees from other countries.
"So we're already seeing some moves, and even breaks within the Christian world," Jones said. "I think we may be heading for some very difficult days."
"You mean actual violence or do you mean very, very intense political disagreement? Harwood asked.
"I'm deeply, deeply worried about the midterm elections being a flashpoint for violence in this country," Jones responded.
Watch the segment below:
Christian nationalists believe Trump on a 'mission from God' to occupy cities: author
Members of law enforcement gather, as tensions rise after federal law enforcement agents were involved in a shooting incident in north Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S., January 15, 2026. REUTERS/Ryan Murphy
Members of law enforcement gather, as tensions rise after federal law enforcement agents were involved in a shooting incident in north Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S., January 15, 2026. REUTERS/Ryan Murphy
January 15, 2026
ALTERNET
President Donald Trump is threatening to invoke the Insurrection Act in response to escalating tensions between protesters and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The threat comes a little over a week after the fatal shooting of an unarmed 37-year-old U.S. citizen Renee Nicole Good by ICE agent Jonathan Ross.
Meanwhile, in Philadelphia, progressive District Attorney Larry Krasner and Sheriff Rochelle Bilal are threatening criminal charges against ICE agents if they violate the city's laws.
Minneapolis
In a Thursday conversation for The New Republic's podcast, "The Daily Blast," host Greg Sargent (a former Washington Post columnist) and author Sarah Posner examined the connection between ICE raids and far-right evangelical Christian nationalism.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is an aggressive defender of President Donald Trump's mass deportations and ICE raids, and according to Sargent and Posner, extreme Christian fundamentalism is a key part of that mindset.
Posner told Sargent: "For Johnson, he represents only Republicans. In his mind, he doesn’t represent all American people. He thinks that he is on a mission from God to carry out a biblical or a Christian kind of government. And in his mind, that kind of government does not represent the ideals of, you know, helping your neighbor, welcoming the stranger — things that many people would think are biblical values. But for him, the biblical values are a strong, powerful, militarized government that lays down the law and protects America from what he sees as America's enemies: The left."
Johnson and other white Christian nationalists, according to Sargent and Posner, view ICE violence in Minneapolis in decidedly religious terms.
Posner continued: "They would like Americans to believe that the violence that we're seeing on the streets of Minneapolis and elsewhere is caused by protesters, is caused by neighbors with whistles — not caused by the ICE agents themselves or the Customs and Border Protection agents. And so, to him, he would like America to believe that, yes, there are riots in the street. He used that word: riots. And to him, by definition, those are not caused by ICE, because ICE is carrying out a mission from God to defend America from an invasion of illegal immigrants — from the left who would harbor those illegal immigrants. That's the kind of narrative that he's trying to draw here."
She added, "So he would never even conceive of reining in ICE, of putting restrictions on what they can do with their weapons or in terms of detaining people. To him, they are carrying out a government and a God-given mission to protect America. "
Listen to the full New Republic podcast at this link or read the transcript here.
President Donald Trump is threatening to invoke the Insurrection Act in response to escalating tensions between protesters and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The threat comes a little over a week after the fatal shooting of an unarmed 37-year-old U.S. citizen Renee Nicole Good by ICE agent Jonathan Ross.
Meanwhile, in Philadelphia, progressive District Attorney Larry Krasner and Sheriff Rochelle Bilal are threatening criminal charges against ICE agents if they violate the city's laws.
Minneapolis
In a Thursday conversation for The New Republic's podcast, "The Daily Blast," host Greg Sargent (a former Washington Post columnist) and author Sarah Posner examined the connection between ICE raids and far-right evangelical Christian nationalism.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is an aggressive defender of President Donald Trump's mass deportations and ICE raids, and according to Sargent and Posner, extreme Christian fundamentalism is a key part of that mindset.
Posner told Sargent: "For Johnson, he represents only Republicans. In his mind, he doesn’t represent all American people. He thinks that he is on a mission from God to carry out a biblical or a Christian kind of government. And in his mind, that kind of government does not represent the ideals of, you know, helping your neighbor, welcoming the stranger — things that many people would think are biblical values. But for him, the biblical values are a strong, powerful, militarized government that lays down the law and protects America from what he sees as America's enemies: The left."
Johnson and other white Christian nationalists, according to Sargent and Posner, view ICE violence in Minneapolis in decidedly religious terms.
Posner continued: "They would like Americans to believe that the violence that we're seeing on the streets of Minneapolis and elsewhere is caused by protesters, is caused by neighbors with whistles — not caused by the ICE agents themselves or the Customs and Border Protection agents. And so, to him, he would like America to believe that, yes, there are riots in the street. He used that word: riots. And to him, by definition, those are not caused by ICE, because ICE is carrying out a mission from God to defend America from an invasion of illegal immigrants — from the left who would harbor those illegal immigrants. That's the kind of narrative that he's trying to draw here."
She added, "So he would never even conceive of reining in ICE, of putting restrictions on what they can do with their weapons or in terms of detaining people. To him, they are carrying out a government and a God-given mission to protect America. "
Listen to the full New Republic podcast at this link or read the transcript here.
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