When veteran Democratic strategist James Carville warned that far-right Christian nationalists in the United States are quite capable of the sort of extremism that al-Qaeda is known for, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) demanded an apology.
But Carville never backed down, refusing to apologize. And he isn't the only one who has been pointing out the parallels between radical fundamentalist Islam and radical fundamentalist evangelical Protestant Christianity.
During a Thursday morning, June 13 broadcast of MSNBC's "Morning Joe," host Joe Scarborough (a Never Trump conservative and former GOP congressman) discussed the extremism of pro-Donald Trump Christian nationalists with former federal prosecutor Barbara McQuade (author of the book "Attack From Within: How Disinformation Is Sabotaging America") and conservative strategist Amanda Carpenter (a Never Trumper).
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Scarborough told McQuade, "Barb, it's gotten so much worse now in that Christian nationalism has taken over the Republican Party. And as you write in your book, people hide behind religion to spread disinformation. It's almost like they're using Jesus, in this case, and the cross as sort of a barrier between them and reality. And for me, it's sickening, growing up as an evangelical."
The "Morning Joe" host added, "But for America, it's dangerous because these carnival barkers are using religion in a way that you say con artists have always used religion to get ahead politically."
McQuade didn't disagree with Scarborough's points.
The MSNBC legal analyst and former federal prosecutor responded, "You know, Joe, I too am a Christian, and I talk to Christian friends who are deeply offended by the exploitation of the Christian religion as a way to hide behind calls for violence, for power, and other things that are decidedly not Christian. But Christianity aside, as a former prosecutor in national security cases, I see a lot of parallels between the way Christianity is being bastardized and the way ISIS used Islam as a way to bastardize religion."
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McQuade continued, "And some of the same tactics — you know, preying upon grievance, culture war, the idea that we need to be a Christian nation — is very similar to the way they called for an Islamic caliphate. And when it's a holy war, then anything goes, right? Because the ends justify any means whatsoever. So, if you listen to the rhetoric of Donald Trump recently talking about how people aren't going to stand for it if he is imprisoned — or, will there be violence if you're not elected in the fall…. there will be bedlam, there will be a bloodbath — these things lands on people's ears, in a way, as a call to action."
According to McQuade, "It's not just reckless — it's a deliberate effort to use grievance to obtain political power."
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Watch the full video below or at this link.
'Holy war': Former federal prosecutor compares evangelical Trump supporters to ISIS www.youtube.com
