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/

U.S. skips COP30 climate summit in Brazil, lobbies against global goals - The Washington Post

The Trump administration is using lobbying and economic threats to thwart emissions-cutting and environmental initiatives around the world...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/11/07/cop30-climate-summit-brazil-us-trump/

US Senate passes Republican-led bill to rescind Trump’s tariffs on Brazil

"Tariffs make both building and buying in America more expensive. The economic harms of trade wars are not the exception to history, but the rule," Republican Mitch McConnell said in a statement on Tuesday. "And no cross-eyed reading of Reagan will reveal otherwise." 

Paul, the sole Republican co-sponsor of the legislation, told reporters on Capitol Hill: "Emergencies are like war, famine, tornado. Not liking someone's tariffs is not an emergency, it's an abuse of the emergency power and it is Congress abdicating their traditional role in taxes."…

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/28/us-senate-trump-tariffs-brazil

 

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

 

Rio’s ‘narco-pentecostal’ gangsters accused of ordering Catholic churches to close

Bible-bashing drug boss accused of targeting Afro-Brazilian religions and Catholic congregations…

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/10/brazil-gang-boss-drug-trafficking-closing-churches

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/

Outcry in Brazil over photos of people scavenging through animal carcasses

Pictures of destitute Brazilians searching scraps for food lay bare scale of economic and social crisis…

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/03/outcry-in-brazil-over-photos-of-people-scavenging-through-animal-carcasses

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

Evangelical Christians in Brazil resolve to ‘bring Jesus’ to carnival revelers

The group played a key role in the election of the country’s far-right president and have become increasingly assertive....
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/26/evangelical-christians-in-brazil-resolve-to-bring-jesus-to-carnival-revelers

‘It tastes like clay’: residents of Rio alarmed by murky, smelly tap water

The city’s water company insists the murky water is safe to drink and was caused by an organic compound found in soil ....
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/16/brazil-rio-de-janeiro-tap-water-pollution

‘Soldiers of Jesus’: Armed neo-Pentecostals torment Brazil’s religious minorities - The Washington Post

Gangs are threatening practitioners of Candomblé and shutting down temples. Reports of religious-based violence in Rio have increased eightfold in three years, authorities say.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/soldiers-of-jesus-armed-neo-pentecostals-torment-brazils-religious-minorities/2019/12/08/fd74de6e-fff0-11e9-8501-2a7123a38c58_story.html

Brazil steel industry body perplexed by Trump tariff move - Reuters

Brazil’s main steel industry body said on Monday that it was “perplexed” by U.S. President Trump’s decision to restore tariffs on Brazilian steel and aluminum, calling the move “retaliation” and saying that the Brazilian government was not artificially devaluing its real currency. ....
https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-trade-trump-reaction/brazil-steel-industry-body-perplexed-by-trump-tariff-move-idUSL1N28C0NW

Stocks sink on worrisome factory data and Trump’s renewed tariffs on steel, aluminum - The Washington Post

President Trump surprised markets by reinstating steel and aluminum tariffs on Brazil and Argentina....
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/12/02/dow-sinks-points-after-trump-resurrects-steel-aluminum-tariffs-renewing-global-trade-worries/

A Top Financier of Trump and McConnell Is a Driving Force Behind Amazon Deforestation - The Intercept

Steve Schwarzman is the CEO of the Blackstone Group, which partially owns a Brazilian firm that is helping transform the Amazon from jungle to farmland.....
https://theintercept.com/2019/08/27/amazon-rainforest-fire-blackstone/

This ‘wonder of the Earth’ is the size of Minnesota and built by bugs - The Washington Post

In Brazil, the insects built 200 million mounds of rock-hard dirt. ....
https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2018/11/19/termites-built-natural-wonder-earth-size-minnesota/

'Sad surprise': Amazon fish contaminated by plastic particles - the guardian

Scientists in Brazil find first evidence of plastic pollution in Amazon basin freshwater fish ....
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/nov/16/sad-surprise-amazon-fish-contaminated-by-plastic-particles

National Security Candidates (Pod Save the World podcast)

First, Tommy ticks through some major news about UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, Saudi Arabia and Brazil. Then he interviews three candidates (Jesse Colvin, Abigail Spanberger, Lauren Baer) who have different national security backgrounds that all made them decide to run for Congress this cycle. They are inspiring and brilliant. You won’t want to miss it.
Interview:

https://crooked.com/podcast/national-security-candidates/

This Man Claims He Is Jesus Christ Reincarnated -- National Geographic

A self-proclaimed Messiah in Brazil casts his net for disciples on social media. ...
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/proof/2017/07/jesus-messiah-faith-social-media/