For over a year now, Idaho Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin has been broadcasting her Christian nationalist fantasies to the nation.
She’s publicly spread COVID misinformation, promoted pseudoscientific responses to the virus, and publicly condemned the mild restrictions placed by Gov. Brad Little (a fellow Republican) — and she’s done all this in the name of Jesus. She even participated in a promotional video for a COVID-denying right-wing “freedom” group in which she held up a Bible in one hand and a gun in the other.
But this week, she leaned further into Christian nationalism than ever before, telling MAGA radio host Stew Peters that “God calls us to pick up the sword and fight, and Christ will reign in the state of Idaho.”
It’s a short clip, but the full interview shows it’s not out of context. That’s not a slip of the tongue; that’s her closing statement. It’s a full-blown cry for Christian theocracy in a state that’s already overwhelmingly Republican. It’s a warning from a candidate who claims to love the Constitution but who clearly hasn’t read it. It’s not even clear what she would do differently as a “Christian” governor given that Idaho’s legislature is already about as right-wing Jesus-loving Republican as you can get.
This isn’t about Jesus. This is about worshiping Donald Trump and whatever the MAGA cultists want and doing it all under the banner of Christ.
It won’t surprise you that McGeachin has also spoken at a conference organized by Holocaust-denying white nationalist Nick Fuentes… then acted like a victim when a reporter asked basic questions about her decision. The people who want to live in a “Christian nation” have no problem forming partnership with people who hate diversity, hate non-Christians, and hate facts.
The Republican gubernatorial primary takes place on May 17. For now, at least, incumbent Brad Little appears to be running away with the race. A victory for him would still be bad for the country, but McGeachin is a reminder that everything could be so much worse.