FBI agent turned lawyer and political commentator Asha Rangappa shared a warning from journalist Heather Cox Richardson that it is “imperative” for people to familiarize themselves with an active and influential strain of overt Christian Nationalism whose millennial influencers are deeply entwined with the political work of GOP Vice Presidential nominee JD Vance.
Sharing an investigative 5-plus minute video by Mother Jones on the so-called TheoBros — a neologism taking off from TechBros but with theology leading — Richardson, in the post shared by Rangappa, calls the video “an absolute must-watch.”
This is an absolutely must-watch. All of it. Five minutes. Imperative. https://t.co/NUyvxbTfBj
— Heather Cox Richardson (TDPR) (@HC_Richardson) October 7, 2024
Mother Jones captions its post: “These extremely online young Christian men want to end the 19th Amendment, restore public flogging, and make America white again. And they’re connected to JD Vance.”
The Mother Jones journalists make the Vance connection through the Rockbridge Network, of which Vance was a co-founder with Chris Buskirk. The Rockbridge Network, funded by rightwing Silicon Valley money, first met in 2022 at Donald Trump’s Florida resort Mar-a-Lago.
Supporters reportedly include Peter Thiel and Rebekkah Mercer, the hedge fund heiress and GOP donor heavyweight who helped start Reclaim New York with Trump ally Steve Bannon.
A successful venture capitalist, Buskirk identifies as a journalist, though an avowed Trump supporter and MAGA operative at the same time.
On social media, Buskirk amplifies posts by “Dark MAGA” predicting Trump “total victory” and posts by Elon Musk promoting hurricane relief misinformation that even Musk later retracted after speaking with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
Gross incompetence combined with psychopathic malice.
It’s a deadly combination.
That’s the Harris form of government.
It’s on the ballot and it must be rejected. American lives are at stake. https://t.co/zTTlVrhED5
— Chris Buskirk e/acc (@thechrisbuskirk) October 5, 2024
Here’s Buttigieg speaking on the Musk exchange.
@jenpsaki Elon Musk calls @Pete Buttigieg over the phone after exchange on X over blocked flights amidst hurricane relief efforts #elonmusk #petebuttigieg #hurricaneseason #msnbc ♬ original sound – Inside with Jen Psaki
The connection between Vance — a Catholic and an ostensible Constitutionalist — and the more radical would-be theocrats isn’t a direct one, though there are links and the story cites great satisfaction among the Christian Nationalists with many of Vance’s positions, quoting “TheoBro” pastor Andrew Isker saying:
“You need to double down on childless cat lady discourse. Kamala sees happy, large families and hates them. She wants them destroyed. She wants you to never be able to have this. She is a nasty, bitter harridan who hates all that is true, good, and beautiful.”
Andrew Isker via Mother Jones
Mother Jones namechecks a swath of avowed Christian Nationalists — among them Stephen Wolfe, Joel Webbon, and William Wolfe — who allegedly want the Ten Commandments to supersede the Constitution, an idea espousing a religious preferentialism explicitly rejected in the Constitution.
These men, as the video reports, don’t hesitate to call themselves Christian Nationalists, an assertion demonstrated clearly by the fact that Stephen Wolfe is the author of The Case for Christian Nationalism.