Do you ever wonder where Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth – who has repeatedly framed the U.S.’s deadly war on Iran as a divine mission – gets his “Christian” views from? Or why he says that the U.S. was “founded as a Christian nation” despite the Constitution having zero reference to Christianity?
In this wide-ranging and, at times, heated ‘Mehdi Unfiltered’ interview, Mehdi grills Pastor Douglas Wilson – the self-described Christian nationalist who Hegseth invited to preach at the Pentagon earlier this year and who also founded the network of right-wing churches that Hegseth is a member of.
Mehdi challenges Wilson on his vision for a Christian nationalist America – which, according to Wilson, would eliminate the 19th Amendment that granted women the right to vote, end gay marriage, and ban non-Christians from taking office.
Here are some of the other topics Mehdi presses Wilson on:
Whether the U.S. was founded as a Christian nation (“The actual real life U.S. Constitution is not theological at all,” Mehdi says)
Whether a Muslim like Mehdi should be allowed to run for office
Wilson’s controversial book on slavery, which described slavery as a “relationship based upon mutual affection”
What would happen to U.S. states that want to keep gay marriage legal in Wilson’s vision for America (“I believe that they should be expelled from the United States,” Wilson says)
Hegseth’s belligerent and very un-Christian rhetoric on the war on Iran
Whether white evangelical Christians are hypocrites for supporting someone as openly sinful and un-Christian as Donald Trump
Paid subscribers can watch the full hour-long debate to see Mehdi bring the receipts and fact-check Wilson on everything from the founding fathers’ beliefs to the definition of misogyny. Free subscribers can watch a 3-minute preview. Consider becoming a paid subscriber to unlock content like this and a lot more from Zeteo.
A note from Mehdi: Usually, I would never platform someone with such hideous views on slavery, women, Muslims, and gay rights. However, because of Wilson’s proximity to Pete Hegseth and the rising influence of Christian nationalism in the White House, I believed it important to challenge Wilson’s statements with the usual facts, receipts, and journalistic rigor that Zeteo has become known for.
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