Christian nationalism isn't just immoral -- it's incoherent

Pete Hegseth’s Mormon diss explodes a MAGA myth
Christian nationalism isn't just immoral — it's incoherent

By Amanda Marcotte
Senior Writer
Published June 10, 2026 6:45AM (EDT)


(Salon) Pete Hegseth is not a coherent thinker. This was demonstrated yet again on the D-Day anniversary event in France, where the defense secretary gave a speech that was supposed to be anti-Nazi but ended up employing a metaphor that made the Nazis sound like the victims in WWII. Hegseth claims he wants military promotions based on merit, but has systematically blocked promotions of people are more qualified than he’ll ever be, for no other seeming reason than they aren’t white men. And, of course, he keeps saying the U.S. has won the Iran war, which still has no end in sight, while also begging for more time and money to wage it.

So it’s no surprise that the famously incompetent Donald Trump appointee recently claimed to be “simplifying” the military’s religious coding system, but only ended up sowing unnecessary confusion and rancor. Even more entertainingly, the move backfired — which was obviously more about Hegseth’s Christian nationalist inclinations than efficiency anyway. In his eagerness to marginalize people of non-Christian faiths, Hegseth accidentally exposed a major MAGA myth: that there’s a coherent, much less peaceful, way to impose their theocratic views on the country. On the contrary, any effort to turn this into a “Christian nation” is destined to reveal the deep divisions between Christian factions, one which are only concealed now because of the secularism Hegseth so despises.

....(snip)....

Sadly, none of this is surprising. Protestations to the contrary, Hegseth has barely concealed his hostility to recognizing that anyone non-Christian could be a legitimate American, much less an honored military service member. What did seem to shock some people, however, was that Hegseth also kicked members of the Church of Latter-day Saints out of his Christian tribe. While all other followers of Jesus, from Quakers to Catholics, were officially designated as variations of “Christian,” Mormons did not enjoy the Christian label.

Mormon leaders should have seen this coming. White evangelicals don’t hide their belief that Mormons have no right to call themselves “Christians.” In May at Rededicate 250, the Christian nationalist event backed by the Trump administration in Washington D.C., there were a couple token Catholics and one Jew among otherwise evangelical-led speaker list, but no Mormons were invited. On the contrary, many speakers are anti-Mormon, including Trump ally and Southern Baptist megachurch pastor Robert Jeffress, who has repeatedly called the Latter Day Saints a “cult.” ...............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2026/06/10/pete-hegseths-mormon-diss-explodes-a-maga-myth/