Christian Nationalists Played A Key Role In Drafting The GOP Platform

Prominent members of the Christian nationalist movement have maneuvered their way into former President Donald Trump’s inner circle in recent years — and their influence is remarkably clear in the draft Republican Party platform unveiled this week.

Russell Vought, a close Trump ally, served as the platform’s policy director. A former Trump administration official, Vought has since taken on a magnified role in Trump world and now runs the Center for Renewing America, a think tank that is angling to infuse a second Trump White House with Christian nationalist policies, as Politico previously reported .

Christian nationalists espouse a belief that America was founded as a Christian nation and that a far-right interpretation of the Bible ought to dictate politics and public life.

Signs of ideological influence from Christian nationalists were all over a 16-page draft of the GOP platform that circulated this week. The document, which is being finalized for the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee next week, embraces common refrains about devout Christians in America facing persecution. Christianity even infuses the foreign policy section, which calls for “protecting the American Homeland, our People, our Borders, our Great American Flag, and our Rights under God.”

The platform largely echoes Trump’s core reelection messages. Unlike in previous years, it is not a detailed recitation of all the policies Republicans hope to achieve in the White House, but a more specifics-free collection of slogans and promises written in Trump’s voice.

The Trump campaign reportedly handpicked the authors in part to freeze out groups that would insist on including extremely unpopular policies, such as an explicit call for a