Donald Trump, who recently declared that Jewish people who vote for Democrats must “hate [their] religion,” has tried to distance himself from white supremacist and antisemite Nick Fuentes.
However, as Trump declared that every American should have a Bible in their home and that there’s not enough Christianity in the U.S., Fuentes went viral for a similar sentiment.
On his podcast, the self-appointed provocateur announced that America is a country for Christians — not atheists or devil worshippers — and he singled out what he calls “an occult element…specifically among the Jews.”
Fuentes spoke of “evildoers” and “people that worship false gods,” and said they must be removed from society, via the death penalty. In the clip that’s earning him a lot of attention, he argued:
“There is an occult element at the high levels of society, and specifically among the Jews…They are people that practice magic or rituals or whatever, and more than anything, those people need to be, when we take power, they need to be given the death penalty…I’m far more concerned about that than I am about even not-white people or mass migration…They must be absolutely annihilated….This is God’s country. This is Jesus’ county. This is not the domain of atheists or devil worshippers or perfidious Jews.”
As you can see in the quote above, Fuentes also managed to squeeze in a racist and xenophobic element, suggesting that he’s also worried (if somewhat less so) about “not-white people” and “mass migration.”
It’s common commentary for Fuentes, perhaps, but should a candidate who dines with such an open antisemite even be considered as a possibility for President of the United States?
Trump’s comments on the same day this clip went viral argued that there isn’t enough Christianity in America and similarly, if more loosely, targeted minority religions and the nonreligious.
It’s certainly true that the percentage of Americans who are Christians has decreased, with a Pew Research report in 2022 noting that had gone from perhaps as high as 90% in the 1990s, to around 66%. That’s still a massive majority.
But in America, the First Amendment says that both Fuentes and Trump are wrong because there can be no established state religion (including Christianity), and because every American has the freedom to practice Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Candomble, Satanism, or any other religion they choose — or to choose none at all.
The Constitution certainly does not allow the targeting of a given religious group — including those who believe in “magic or rituals or whatever” — to be put to death for their beliefs.
Watch below — but probably not at work or out loud in a public place.
Donald Trump's dinner guest at Mar-a-Lago Nick Fuentes says that when the America First movement takes power, all non-Christians will be executed: "They must be absolutely annihilated when we take power."
pic.twitter.com/hNiE3JvEaq— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) March 26, 2024
