Christian Nationalists are furious at reporter Heidi Przybyla for accurately reporting on them

Conservatives are big mad that the POLITICO reporter connected the dots between their religious faith and their plans for a second Trump term

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If there’s one thing that’s a certainty heading into the 2024 presidential elections, it’s that Donald Trump, if he wins again, will surround himself with Christian Nationalists who believe the Bible, not the Constitution, ought to dictate how we run the country. And it’s only their conservative interpretations of the Bible that counts.

That’s the basis for Project 2025. That’s how right-wing justices have defended their insane decisions, including the Alabama Supreme Court’s recent ruling to effectively block IVF treatments. That’s how Speaker Mike Johnson is running the Republican Party.

That’s also why it was troubling, but not surprising, when POLITICO reported last week that a right-wing think tank was “developing plans to infuse Christian nationalist ideas in [Trump’s] administration should the former president return to power.”

The piece, by Alexander Ward and Heidi Przybyla, explained that The Center for Renewing America and its president Russell Vought had drafted a document with priorities for a second Trump term: “Christian nationalism” is literally one of the bullet points. While specifics are lacking, the implications are obvious, especially since Vought is an advisor for Project 2025.

The documents obtained by POLITICO do not outline specific Christian nationalist policies. But Vought has promoted a restrictionist immigration agenda, saying a person’s background doesn’t define who can enter the U.S., but rather, citing Biblical teachings, whether that person “accept[ed] Israel’s God, laws and understanding of history.”

Vought has a close affiliation with Christian nationalist William Wolfe, a former Trump administration official who has advocated for overturning same-sex marriage, ending abortion and reducing access to contraceptives.

After that article was published, Przybyla appeared on MSNBC last Thursday night to discuss the piece, and she reiterated the link between the next Trump administration and Christian Nationalism:

… And the one thing that unites all of them, because there's many different groups orbiting Trump, but the thing that unites them as Christian Nationalists—Not Christians, by the way, because Christian Nationalists is very different—is that they believe that our rights as Americans, as all human beings, don't come from any earthly authority. They don't come from Congress. They don't come from the Supreme Court. They come from God.

The problem with that is that they are determining man—men; it is men!—are determining what God is telling them. And, in the past, that so called “natural law” is, you know, it's a pillar of Catholicism, for instance. It's been used for good in social justice campaigns. Martin Luther King evoked it in talking about civil rights.

But now, you have an extremist element of conservative Christians who say that this applies specifically to issues including abortion, gay marriage, and it's going much further than that—as you see, for instance, with the ruling in Alabama this week; that judge is connected to that dominionist faction—in talking about a lot of other issues, including surrogacy, IVF, sex education in schools. There's a lot, in addition.

What she said there was accurate. Anyone who’s been following Christian Nationalism over the past few years could tell you that’s accurate.

If she made any mistake, it’s that she said Christian Nationalists believe our rights come from God… when that’s something plenty of other Christians believe, too. The thing about Christian Nationalists is that they seek to impose their beliefs (and their interpretations of the Bible) on the rest of the country.

But she clearly tried to distinguish that group from run-of-the-mill Christians (because they’re not the problem here).

Now, however, Christian Nationalists have decided to use that “error” to go on the attack against Przybyla.

Shortly after her segment aired, conservative Christian groups led by Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council and Brian Burch of Catholic Vote sent a letter to POLITICO demanding an apology for the supposed “smearing of the Christian faith.”

Perkins and Burch knocked Przybyla for not acknowledging "our own Republic was founded on the belief that our rights come from God, not earthly kings or government," citing the Declaration of Independence.

"As a National Investigative Correspondent for Politico, Ms. Przybyla is charged with reporting accurately on American government, politics, and law. It is deeply disturbing, therefore, that she appeared unaware of the opening of the Declaration of Independence or to its references of ‘the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God,’" the Christian leaders wrote. "Equally concerning is Ms. Przybyla’s smearing of the Christian faith reflected in her comments. Her statements constituted an attempt to spread misinformation about Christians by creating the perception that they hold unique beliefs that pose a distinct and, in her words ‘extremist,’ threat to our country." 

The letter continued, "Setting aside the inaccuracy of her commentary, she was manifestly trying to demonize the Christian community and sow fear through propaganda. Przybla's attacks on God as the source of our dignity and rights are also a direct attack on the unifying call of the civil rights movement, including Martin Luther King Jr., who reminded us of our common creed, which grounded human dignity and rights explicitly in a creator God, that no government has a right to take away. Her public platform and ability to reach millions makes this case even more disturbing."

This is nothing more than right-wing hysteria masquerading as watchdog journalism.

The Declaration of Independence is not the Constitution. Its references to God were standard practice at the time, and many of the Founders were not Christians at all. That includes Thomas Jefferson, who drafted the Declaration but also compiled his own miracle-free Bible that people like Perkins and Burch would described as heretical if Joe Biden ever did something similar

At no point did Przybyla smear the Christian faith. She’s not “spread[ing] misinformation about Christians.” She accurately described what one powerful faction of Christians plans to do if they acquire power—because they’ve been doing it, and continue to do it, and promise to do even more of it.

It’s also bizarre for Perkins to suggest he and MLK are on the same side of this issue when Perkins has a history of speaking to white supremacists and paying KKK leader David Duke for his supporter list.

The fact remains no one has done more harm to Christianity than people like Tony Perkins and Mike Johnson who have equated the faith with bigotry.

It wasn’t just the letter, though. The Center for Renewing America’s Executive Director Wade Miller claimed Przybyla had “disdain for Christians in America,” adding, “She says that if you believe that your rights come from God, you aren’t a Christian, you are a Christian nationalist.”

That was obviously not what she said.

Przybyla herself responded to the backlash: “I said men are making their own policy interpretation of natural law. MLK did so w social justice. You're welcome to as well but you don't speak for all Christians & certainly not for God.”

Yesterday, Perkins chimed in, pretending that Przybyla was a biased reporter because she had this nasty habit of quoting people like him accurately, then suggesting she was too ignorant to cover the matter (“disqualifying lack of knowledge”), before demanding an apology from her and POLITICO for their “offensive comments.”

She owed them nothing. Again, her reporting was accurate. Her commentary was accurate if not perfect. And none of this is in question among people who actually study politics and religion.

Late last night, though, there was indeed a more official response from POLITICO. In a new piece, Przybyla began by explaining why this subject deserved intense coverage…

… Every person’s spiritual motivations are entitled to respect. Once these motivations take them onto the stage of politics and lawmaking that will affect the lives of fellow citizens, however, they will be treated the same as any other political actor.

That means they can expect journalistic scrutiny. They can expect fair and well-reported coverage of their political aims and the tactics used to advance them. They cannot expect exemption from criticism from people who oppose their agendas, nor any extra deference for their political words or actions simply because they are motivated by religious belief.

… and then she acknowledged her supposed misstep in last week’s interview.

“The thing that unites them as Christian nationalists,” I told MSNBC host Michael Steele, “is that they believe our rights as Americans and as all human beings do not come from any earthy authority. They don’t come from Congress, from the Supreme Court, they come from God.”

To state the obvious, the above is not a good definition of Christian Nationalism. Many people have views about our rights as Americans that would coincide with those of many of our nation’s founders. In my full remarks, I noted that many other individuals and groups on all sides of the political equation have cited natural law, including the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who invoked the concept in his fight for civil rights. But, of course, the question of which policies and rights and values can be ascribed to natural law is in the eyes of the beholder.

She added, “Due to some clumsy words, I was interpreted by some people as making arguments that are quite different from what I believe… Reporters have a responsibility to use words and convey meaning with precision, and I am sorry I fell short of this in my appearance.”

I don’t believe she has anything to apologize for, but to the extent she wasn’t clear, this was all she needed to say. The problem isn’t her; it’s the bad actors who tried desperately to take her out of context.

If her words were in any way “clumsy” because of how right-wing zealots chose to mischaracterize them, there’s no way any commentator could escape their wrath. They targeted her because she’s reporting on them, period. They don’t want people to connect the dots between their policy positions and their desire for what’s essentially a Christian theocracy.

It’s no wonder Tony Perkins was furious—because there’s nothing Christian Nationalists like him enjoy more than dragging out a non-story that keeps people like himself in the news. (Somewhere, Bill Donohue is furious he wasn’t included on the group texts.)

Perkins falsely insisted Przybyla was conflating “Bible-believing Christians” with Christian Nationalists (she was not), claimed her words were “calculated,” and demanded POLITICO “come clean on their religious hostility.”

It’s not hostility when a news outlet describes your group fairly. If you don’t like your reflection in the mirror, that’s your own damn fault.

Andrew Seidel, the constitutional lawyer who’s written extensively about Christian Nationalism, called this whole controversy an “attempt to muzzle discussion, criticism, and reporting on the authoritarian Christian Nationalism that is working against American democracy and a free press.”

What we need right now is more reporting on the stakes of the election. If Donald Trump gets into office again, the white evangelicals who want to dictate when (and if) you learn about sex, who you’re allowed to have sex with, and what your options are if sex doesn’t produce a child will likely be in control of the federal government, with enough power to turn their theological fantasies into law. Living in a blue state won’t help in that situation. Their desires are not secrets; they’re openly broadcasting them.

When reporters state that this is the goal of Christian Nationalists, they’re doing us all a favor. They’re letting people know what they stand to lose if religious extremists gain more power than they already have.

There are plenty of Christians who don’t want Christian Nationalists to succeed. They believe the latter group has distorted their faith, turning it political for reasons that have nothing to do with promoting the Gospel message.

But if there’s one thing we’ve learned from decades of fighting the Religious Right, it’s that they can always rely on persecution to rally their troops. They love acting like victims no matter how much power and control they have. At a time when LGBTQ people, women, and refugees are all literally fighting for their lives, the Christian Nationalists leading those attacks are pretending to be persecuted.

Heidi Przybyla called them out on it—with evidence. So they decided to go after her. And they’ll go after anyone else who describes their mission to a wider audience, too, because they know damn well that most Americans want nothing to do with their faith-based control and cruelty. The more exposure it gets, the harder it becomes to implement.

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