A few months ago, I was cautiously optimistic that the national news media had started paying attention to Christian nationalism – a movement which I and many others view as one of the most pressing threats to American democracy, and which is a major animating force behind Donald Trump’s current presidential campaign, but is rarely discussed as either. After seeing how the national media covered Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance’s recent appearance at a traveling revival carnival helmed by one of that movement’s leaders, though, I realized my optimism was clearly misplaced. Some in the media are paying attention, but they still aren’t getting it; what they think is a sideshow is actually the main event.
J.D. Vance
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DAVIS: A Gaggle of Weirdos
The gravitational pull of political discourse shifted last week with the use of one word: weird. As in “Republicans are weird,” or “J.D. Vance is a weird guy,” or “Donald Trump? Kind of weird.” It’s not clear who used the line first – whether it was Minnesota Governor and current contender to become Kamala Harris’s VP pick, Tim Walz, or Vice President Harris herself – but it has since taken off like wildfire. Currently, a Google search for the word “weird” turns up headlines from The New York Times, Newsweek, USA Today, and a dozen other outlets, all covering what is arguably the most concise and devastating hit on an opponent American politics has seen in at least two decades.