Marjorie Taylor Greene urged Republicans to embrace ‘Christian nationalism’. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Marjorie Taylor Greene has casually said that being a “Christian nationalist” is a “good thing” because of course she did.
Greene, a far-right conspiracy theorist who represents Georgia, made the remarks at the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit on 23 July in Tampa, Florida.
Speaking about how her critics have branded her a “Christian nationalist”, Green said the Republican Party should embrace the label.
“That’s not a bad word,” Greene told the crowd at the Tampa Convention Center. “That’s actually a good thing. There’s nothing wrong with leading with your faith.”
The congresswoman added: “If we do not live our lives and vote like we are nationalists — caring about our country, and putting our country first and wanting that to be the focus of our federal government — if we do not lead that way, then we will not be able to fix it.”
Christian Nationalism is the idea that Christianity should dominate all forms of everyday life, including lawmaking. The ideology, often associated with the far-right and white supremacy, includes declaring the US a Christian nation and no longer separating the state from the church.
This is what Greene says the GOP should represent.
“We need to be the party of nationalism and I’m a Christian, and I say it proudly, we should be Christian nationalists,” she added in an interview with the conservative Next News Network.
Twitter users were not exactly shocked by Greene’s remarks, having come to expect them from her by this point.
If you want to know where the US is at right now, MTG just declared she was a fascist like she was casually declaring her favourite flavour of crisps. https://t.co/dJtQw7Oilu
— Amelia Hansford 🏳️⚧️ (@Ameliahansford) July 25, 2022
Christian Nationalists are bad. Christian Nationalists are evil.
This is not a Christian Nation. It wasn’t designed to be, nor should it be. You will infringe on other Faiths’ Rights and the Rights of Queer Folks.
No party (including Republican Party) should be this. https://t.co/Lq9IXlqaMk
— Danny (@97DanielleElkns) July 25, 2022
Say the quiet part out loud https://t.co/aPN8yxif2H
— 🤴🏽 (@CamTheKing) July 25, 2022
I’m kinda surprised that they’re not just proudly yelling out at this point to be called Nazis. Maybe closer to election we’ll see that. 🤷 https://t.co/kFaR8Fkgv4
— Blue (@bluebombah) July 25, 2022
She isn’t a Christian. She’s promoting an imposter Christianity to create a white nationalist fascist state. Let’s not pretend it’s anything but that. https://t.co/hM9dyZqFZc
— That Packer Grl: Nolite te Bastardes Carborundorum (@thatpackergirl) July 25, 2022
Though a majority of Republican voters would say they are Christian, the number of Americans who say they believe in another religion or are not religious at all has increased in recent years, according to the Pew Research Center.
Mixing religion with the government can only end badly, the non-profit Freedom From Religion Foundation wrote in a letter to Greene in June.
“Loving your country is not nationalism,” the foundation’s co-presidents wrote.
“Nationalism is what led Europe into centuries of endless wars over imagined borders and notions of national superiority. Like the unification of state and church, this is an embarrassing misstep in European history that Americans should be proud we have learned from. Nationalism is inherently divisive and dangerous.”
Elsewhere in her speech, Green made unsavoury comments about monkeypox. The once rare virus has spread worldwide across more than a dozen countries, prompting the World Health Organization to declare it a global health emergency.
“We have a new global pandemic, have you heard about this? Monkeypox, that’s right,” she said.
“It’s the newest thing. Listen, you guys have to update your social media, right next to your Ukraine flag emoji and your vaccine shot emoji, you need to make sure you have a monkey emoji.”
As well as monkeypox, Marjorie Taylor Greene has a lengthy track of making crude comments about LGBTQ+ people.
The QAnon follower once appeared on Alex Jones’ Infowars to hit back at claims she “hates transgenders” only to then call them “predators“.
She has claimed the Democratic Party are turning “kids gay and transgender“, that women are the “weaker sex” and that o.