Republicans really have the hots for Christian nationalism.

Countless polls have shown how far-right politicians are embracing policies and forging culture wars that are fueled (and often funded) by Christian nationalist ideas about an ideal America, which centers a mostly white, Christian framework for how society should function.

A 2022 report from the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, a Baptist nonprofit that advocates for the separation of church and state, found that Christian nationalism was the most common ideology among people who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The data in the report also showed that the more respondents affirmed Christian nationalism, the more likely they were to affirm conspiracy theories about Antifa and Black Lives Matter’s involvement in the riots.

Respondents to a January Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) poll examining American attitudes toward Christian nationalism found white Evangelicals were more likely to identify with these beliefs than any other group surveyed. Nearly two-thirds of white evangelical Protestants qualify as either Christian nationalism sympathizers (35 percent) or adherents (29 percent), PRRI found in their survey data.

The 2024 Republican presidential race has proven to be a lesson in how political leaders embrace these ideologies, with the majority of candidates embracing some aspect of Christian nationalism in an attempt to cozy up to their base.

There is evidence to suggest that Gen Z-ers may be more open to the message of Christian nationalism if it is framed in a way that resonates with their concerns about inequality and injustice. The upcoming presidential election is likely to be a test of the influence of Christian nationalism on Gen Z.

On the one hand, Gen Z is the most religiously diverse generation in American history, with a significant number of atheists and nones–that is people who identify with no religion. This suggests that Gen Z may be less susceptible to the messages of Christian nationalism than previous generations. On the other hand, Gen Z is also a generation that is deeply concerned about social justice issues and generally holds more progressive political views than previous generations, according to a 2019 Pew Research Center survey.

Gen Z has also been more supportive of LGBTQ identities than previous generations, with nearly 21 percent of Gen Z identifying as a member of the LGBTQ community, according to 2022 Gallup Poll data.

When transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney announced her partnership with Bud Light earlier this spring, conservative TikTok was set ablaze. Things took another turn in April when young conservative commentator and TikToker Brett Cooper gained widespread popularity after praising recent transphobic comments made by Matt Walsh, her colleague at The Daily Wire.

Other conservative TikTokers began posting videos of themselves destroying cases of Bud Light beer to express their anger at the company’s support for Mulvaney. These videos have amassed more than 3.4 billion views on TikTok.

It’s no surprise that conservative media personalities like Cooper and her employer, The Daily Wire, have found a foothold on social media platforms like TikTok. The Daily Wire, which is aimed at “a new generation of conservatives” has published multiple reports that defend Christian Nationalism.

According to Thomas Lecaque, an associate professor of history at Grand View University in Iowa who focuses on apocalyptic religion and political violence, the strategy is deliberate.

“You build your audience with a young demographic, and then you spread your ideas that way. This is how you build the next generation of fascists,” Lecaque explained during a 2022 interview with Vice.

Katherine Stewart, an investigative reporter and author of “The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism,” emphasized that “Christian nationalism is not Christianity,” during a virtual event put together by Moment magazine in April.

Instead, she described it as a political phenomenon that exploits religion for political gain, combining ideology and a quest for power.

Social media is worth paying attention to, especially as more young people become eligible to vote, said Georgia McKee, social media manager for Christians Against Christian Nationalism.

“We know for a fact that a lot of white supremacist males who have committed violence left messages online talking about their faith in God and their religion before they committed that act of violence,” McKee said.

As we enter this election cycle, these young Christian nationalist social media influencers believe they have the potential to sway the political views and voting choices of a significant portion of the emerging generation, impacting the direction of American politics.

Americans United for the Separation of Church and State is looking on the bright side. Americans United is a 75-year-old nonprofit founded to keep religious influences out of public education. Vice President for Strategic Communications Andrew Seidel said social media also provides people an opportunity to learn things they may not get from their families and community institutions.

4 young conservative influencers spreading misinformation

These influencers and online content creators are making waves and collecting a young following.

Braeden Sorbo  (2002)

Braeden Sorbo is a content creator, filmmaker and political commentator. His 2023 film, “Left Behind: The Rise of the AntiChrist” features storylines that legitimize conspiracy theories like the far-right theory that COVID-19 was a “hoax” and fundamentalist Christian beliefs about the rapture and the end times all with a sprinkle of semi-recent global politics.

Sorbo has 1.9M followers on TikTok. He’s also a Turning Point USA ambassador, which is a group of influencers endorsed by the ultraconservative political group working to get young people involved in ultra-conservative politics. The group is led by Charlie Kirk, who himself is a millennial, but has also been an influential young voice among American conservatives.

“The only light after the world falls into chaos is a charming new leader who rises to the head of the UN, but does he bring hope for a better future? Or is it the end of the world?” is the plot of the movie listed on IMDB.

The son of Kevin Sorbo, the actor who said he was “blacklisted by Hollywood” because of his Christian faith, has promoted patriarchal views and criticized efforts to make leadership more equitable and less dominated by men. The young actor’s celebrity father is also often a feature of his videos.

Sorbo is worth watching because he’s made an explicit effort to target young people with his movies and content and has been present at various conservative political events, including Turning Point USA’s annual conference and FreedomFest, a Libertarian political conference.

Sadie Robertson Huff (1997)

Sadie Robertson Huff is the daughter of Willie Robertson and the granddaughter Phil Robertson, two of the patriarchs of the Duck Dynasty family, which openly discussed their Christian values on their show about duck hunting. The family has since gotten involved in politics, becoming yet another popular Christian reality TV family to have political influence.

She has been a guest on podcasts and creates her own content talking about marriage, relationships and some politics. She’s also promoted saving sex until marriage, the main tenant of harmful purity culture teachings often promoted by Christian nationalists.

Robertson has promoted modesty culture, which teaches girls to wear clothes that cover more of their bodies in part to protect men from lust. She has also claimed that waiting until marriage to have sex will prevent sexual shame. Sex experts and therapists say that’s not true, however, as abstinence-only teachings have been connected to sexual dysfunction.

Robertson famously endorsed Donald Trump and spoke openly about her decision to vote for him. She was also the star of the Christian film “God’s Not Dead.”

Robertson is worth paying attention to in the world of purity culture and sexuality education because she’s pushing ideas connected to increased risk of teen pregnancy, life-threatening sexually transmitted diseases and domestic violence.

Isabel Brown (1997)

Isabel Brown is a content creator and author of “End of the Alphabet: How Gen Z can save America,” which she calls “a rallying cry for Gen Z to embrace traditional values in a new-age way and step up to make our voices heard.”

She is also a Turning Point USA contributor and has appeared on Fox News.

She’s active on her TikTok account, where she posts videos reacting to current events and political news. Her content includes beauty hacks, jokes and some political commentary. She also has encouraged other young people to “reject woke ideology.”

“I engage with Gen-Zers even on the left who have had enough with this violent, divisive rhetoric in our country,” Brown said during an interview on The Megyn Kelly Show in May. “We are breaking free from so many of the stereotypes that people associate Generation Z with like this craze of changing our gender all the time.”

Brown’s content often includes misinformation and conspiracy theories, including conspiracies about COVID-19 protection measures, which she encouraged students to question during a 2021 speech at George Fox University.

Brett Cooper

Brett Cooper is a 21-year-old conservative political commentator. She has her own show, “The Comments Section with Brett Cooper,” which is aired by conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro’s network, The Daily Wire — the same network that sells gendered chocolate as a means of “owning the libs.”

Cooper has been openly critical of transgender individuals online, claiming that transgender people are mentally ill and has spread misinformation about gender transition. For example, in 2022, she was criticized for tweeting a video of herself mocking a transgender woman. She has also said children who say they are transgender feel that way because of adults’ influence and exposure to information about trans people.

She’s been known to spread misinformation and conspiracy theories on her platforms, claiming that the COVID-19 vaccine is dangerous and that it causes infertility, that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump and that Black Lives Matter is a Marxist organization.

She has nearly 900k followers on Instagram and nearly 1M followers on TikTok. She has more than 3M subscribers on YouTube.

Who’s fighting the misinformation?

In the midst of this surge in conservative TikTok influencers promoting white Christian nationalism to young audiences, it’s important to note who’s doing the work on the opposite side of the spectrum, like Georgia McKee.

As the social media manager for “Christians Against Christian Nationalism,” a campaign of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, McKee has garnered over 40,000 subscribers on TikTok through the @endchristiannationalism account.

Other influencers working against the myths promoted by Christian nationalism include:

• Andrew Hartzler: He addresses how Christian nationalism affects religious freedom and individual rights, focusing on LGBTQ+ issues and religious exemptions in public spaces.
• April Ajoy: Active on TikTok and Instagram, April shares her experiences with Christian nationalist environments and provides fresh perspectives on faith and politics.
• Sara Boles: She creates content on TikTok, defending her home state of Florida and addressing Christian nationalism-related issues.
• Fundie Fridays: Originally a makeup and gossip channel, this YouTube account now delves into fundamentalist family documentaries, notably the Duggar family.