Home Christian News Ye’s Trump Dinner Is a High Point for Catholic Nationalists’ Influence Campaign

Ye’s Trump Dinner Is a High Point for Catholic Nationalists’ Influence Campaign

Asked in April whether he was addressing his comments to members of America First, Voris demurred, insisting he was using the term “Christ is king” in the historic Christian sense and speaking generally to “young, orthodox Catholics who, on the political spectrum, would count themselves as patriotic.” He said any connection to groups such as America First was “informal,” later adding he didn’t want to “embrace any group.”

He also decried violence, calling it “repugnant to my Catholicism.”

Even so, America First leaders have been interviewed on Voris’ website, and Salon reported in May that Church Militant’s youth-focused movement was attempting to recruit from the ranks of America First supporters. Voris did not deny “linking arms” with groups such as America First for such purposes as staging protests outside Planned Parenthood clinics.

Yiannopoulos and Fuentes eventually brought into their orbit U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican whose outlandish statements have triggered fierce criticism from across the political spectrum. Greene, an ex-Catholic who was reportedly baptized in 2011 at the evangelical North Point Community Church, spoke in February at Fuentes’ America First conference. He introduced her by saying,“I want to say a very special thank you to Milo Yiannopoulos for making this happen.”

When Greene took the stage, she opened her remarks by citing her faith. “My name is Marjorie Taylor Greene, I am the daughter of the king, the one true living God, the Alpha and Omega, our Father in heaven. And I am a forgiven sinner, washed in the blood of our savior, Jesus Christ,” she told the crowd in Florida.

When people in the audience began chanting “Christ is king,” Greene replied: “Amen — Christ is king.”

Greene was quick to distance herself from Fuentes after the event, but in an hourlong Church Militant interview two months later she attacked U.S. Catholic bishops who lend aid to immigrants as an example of “Satan controlling the church.”

Asked about her remarks shortly afterward, Voris defended Greene to RNS, saying, “I don’t think the congresswoman went far enough, really.”

Yiannopoulos told RNS in an email this week that he helped broker the interview, and around the time it took place, he posted a video of himself on the social media site Telegram eating a Smucker’s Uncrustable Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich in what appeared to be the same house where the conversation was filmed.

Greene soon began identifying as a Christian nationalist. Yiannopoulos told RNS he identifies the same way, although he differentiated his views from those of Greene. “I’m somewhere closer to a Catholic Integralist than, say, Marjorie, who just wants a return to authentic 1776 America,” he said.

Yiannopoulos has since left a position as Greene’s intern to join with Ye. Fuentes now appears to be part of their team: In addition to traveling with Ye to Mar-a-Lago, Fuentes reportedly read aloud a message from Yiannopoulos over the weekend signaling he was joining the campaign.