On this edition (Episode 8!) of Countering White Christian Nationalism, Joy Reid and I explore the parallels between the MAGA movement, the Trump regime, and the 1930s Nazi party in Germany. We unpack the frightening speeches given by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House advisor Stephen Miller at a recent counter-terrorism conference with European officials in Washington.
I explore these harrowing and increasingly frequent Nazi echoes by Trump and MAGA leaders like Miller in my new book, Backslide: Reclaiming a Faith and a Nation After the Christian Turn Against Democracy (SHIPS SEPTEMBER 8, 2026). Here’s a short quote from chapter 2 of the new book on this point:
The greatest danger of the MAGA movement is that it taps the ancient subterranean stream of white supremacy and Christian nationalism that has fed, in different ways, the fascist movements of the early twentieth century and the authoritarian movements of the twenty- first. In the contemporary American transposition of fascism, whiteness stands in for Aryan ethnicity, and Christian nationalism substitutes for Hitler’s call for a new German Weltanschauung (worldview). Ultimately, the MAGAcall for a “glorious” ethno-religious state— with its toxic narrative of religious defilement and purity, racial resentment and revenge— is a warning sign of serious democratic backsliding. It is also the recognizable machinery that paves the road to fascism and political violence.
As you may know, pre-orders play a big role in the success of a book. In fact, the single most important thing you can do to support an author is to pre-order his or her book. (And thanks so much to those of you who placed those early orders to help land my previous book, The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy, on the New York Times bestseller list in its first week!). Pre-orders signal to retailers that they should have sufficient copies on hand on publication day and encourages them to promote it in their stores.
If you order now, BACKSLIDE will be delivered to your doorstep or device the day after Labor Day, September 8. What better way to kick off the fall as we look toward the consequential midterm elections? It’s available in hardcover, ebook, and audio book everywhere books are sold. (Note: Ordering through Bookshop or Amazon using the links below helps support this newsletter, while ordering a signed copy helps support my local independent bookstore, People’s Book).
And click below if you’d like to hear a sneak preview of the audio book.
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