Trump, Biden, and the Future of Christian Nationalism: What the Presidential Election Means for Rightwing Religious Populism

Join us for the second of a two-part series. Donald Trump’s presidency coincided with the emergence of a fiery American nationalism fed by a strain of conservative Christianity and a sense of white racial and cultural superiority. This toxic combination is growing in many parts of the globe.

In the United States, the outcome of the presidential contest between Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden will have a critical impact on whether white Christian nationalism dissipates or grows as a political force and a domestic threat.

This panel of experts convenes two days after the election to explain the sources of Christian nationalism in America and internationally, analyze the impact of the election’s outcome on this phenomenon, and discuss ways to combat this scourge. David Gibson, director of Fordham’s Center on Religion and Culture, will moderate the discussion, including questions from the online audience.

Panelists

Eddie S. Glaude Jr. is chair of the Department of African American Studies at Princeton University and president of the American Academy of Religion. He is a well-known commentator on religion and politics and his most recent book is Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own (Crown Publishing Group, 2020).

Robert P. Jones is the CEO and founder of the Public Religion Research Institute and is a leading commentator on religion, culture, and politics. He is the author of White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity (Simon & Schuster, 2020) and The End of White Christian America (Simon & Schuster, 2016), which won the 2019 Grawemeyer Award in Religion.

Kristina Stoeckl is a professor of sociology at the University of Innsbruck. She is currently principal investigator of the research project Postsecular Conflicts. This effort examines connections between the Russian Orthodox Church and global networks of the Christian Right.