Weekly Roundup: Kristi Noem Implicated, Erika Kirk’s Love Language, and Bill McKibben on the Tragedy of American Christianity (Bradley Onishi and Daniel Miller; Straight White American Jesus podcast)

Brad and Dan are back from the American Academy of Religion conference in Boston and kick off this episode with some love for the folks they met there before diving into a wild week in American politics and religion. They start with the viral moment between Erika Kirk and JD Vance at a TPUSA event, unpacking the media frenzy, the rumors about Kirk’s political aspirations, and what this says about the internal dynamics of a GOP that’s trying to blend celebrity, piety, and power. From there, they break down the Department of Justice’s statement implicating Kristi Noem in deportation flights and what that level of entanglement means for accountability within the MAGA movement.

The second half of the episode takes a thoughtful turn as Brad and Dan dig into Bill McKibben’s essay “They’re Doing to America What They Did to Christianity,” exploring how nostalgia and selective memory shape everything from Christian identity to policy debates. They look at why both right wing and progressive versions of Christian nationalism are so dangerous, how civilizational populism reshaped politics during and after the Obama years, and why the GOP still has no coherent healthcare plan. Despite the heavy topics, the hosts offer reasons for hope with updates on recent legal wins, global news like Bolsonaro’s sentencing in Brazil, and reminders of why staying engaged matters.
Interview: 

https://straightwhiteamericanjesus.com/episodes/weekly-roundup-kristi-noem-implicated-erika-kirks-love-language-and-bill-mckibben-on-the-tragedy-of-american-christianity/

Trump’s bullying of Brazil is backfiring - The Washington Post

"We cannot have President Trump forgetting that he was elected to govern the U.S. … not to be emperor of the world," Lula told CNN's Christiane Amanpour in an interview late last week. He has appeared at rallies sporting a distinct blue cap with similar font to Trump's MAGA paraphernalia, emblazoned in Portuguese with the slogan "Brazil belongs to the Brazilians."…

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/07/20/trump-brazil-bolsonaro-lula-bullying-tariff/

Trump announces 50% tariff on Brazil, citing a ‘witch-hunt’ against Bolsonaro

Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that his administration will hit Brazil with a 50% tariff on products sent to the US, tying the move to what he called the "witch-hunt" trial against its former president, Jair Bolsonaro...

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/09/trump-tariffs-brunei-libya-moldova

 

How the global far right and social media stoked the attack in Brazil : NPR

In the space of 24 hours over Sunday and Monday, former Trump political adviser Steve Bannon said no fewer than 10 times on the right-wing social media platform Gettr that Lula "stole the election." When he shared images from Brasilia on Sunday showing the houses of Brazil's democracy under attack, Bannon labeled the insurrectionists "freedom fighters." 

Since before the October election, Bannon has been hosting guests on his popular podcast warning about fraud in Brazil and promoting accusations that voting had been compromised. 

Other U.S. election deniers also weighed in. Ali Alexander, a leading organizer of the Stop the Steal movement contesting the 2020 presidential election, called Brazil's Supreme Court "illegitimate" and urged Brazilians to "do whatever is necessary."…

https://www.npr.org/2023/01/09/1147881560/the-attack-on-brazils-congress-was-stoked-by-social-media-and-by-trump-allies

US election deniers spread false claims about Brazil vote - PolitiFact

Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro did not announce a "military audit" of his country's Oct. 30 election and did not seek to arrest judges in his first public remarks following his defeat. He initiated the peaceful transition of power to the incoming administration…

https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2022/nov/04/instagram-posts/us-election-deniers-spread-false-claims-about-braz/

Trump’s MAGA Movement Sets Its Sights On Brazil’s Democracy | HuffPost

"Brazil is where we can have hope for the conservative movement," Donald Trump Jr., son of the erstwhile president, said during a keynote speech delivered remotely because of flight problems, according to The Brazilian Report. "What we saw in my country is just a fraction of what's going to happen." …

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jason-miller-detained-brazil-bolsonaro-trump_n_6138bee5e4b0f1b97068a838

Our Leaders Are Officially Ensuring Humanity's Destruction - Truthdig

If Trump and Bolsonaro, among others, have their way, they will take their profits and not give a damn about turning this world into an oven.....
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/our-leaders-are-officially-ensuring-humanitys-destruction/

“How Fascism Works”: Jason Stanley On Trump, Bolsonaro and the Rise of Fascism Across the Globe

In his new book “How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them,” Yale professor Jason Stanley warns about the dangers of normalizing fascist politics, writing, “What normalization does is transform the morally extraordinary into the ordinary. It makes us able to tolerate what was once intolerable by making it seem as if this is the way things have always been.” We speak with Jason Stanley in New York.....
https://youtu.be/I1udxbLV_NY