Kevin McCarthy continues his quest to become Speaker of the House for a third day. After losing six votes over two days, and making yet more concessions to extremists in his party last night, he told reporters this morning he is, quote, “making progress.” The House is reconvening at this hour.
Tomorrow marks the second anniversary of the attack on the US Capitol. January 6th, like September 11th or December 7th, is a date that's emblazoned in the American psyche as a pivotal moment in our nation’s history. The attack on the Capitol — part of a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 presidential election — shook the foundations of American democracy. A bipartisan House Select Committee that spent 18 months investigating the attack has published an extensive and damning report that lays the blame for the insurrection squarely at the feet of former US president Donald Trump. If Republicans work out their internecine fighting over the Speakership, they have promised investigations in the new Congress that will target Joe Biden and his administration.
Scholars, historians and journalists, as well as federal prosecutors, are still sorting out the actors and their motivations behind the violence on January 6th, 2021.
Today on Midday, a conversation with two scholars who study the influence of Christian nationalists on the events of that day, and how they fit into the panoply of groups that organized and executed the attack.
Dr. Matthew Taylor is the Protestant Scholar at the Institute for Islamic, Christian and Jewish Studies in Baltimore. He focuses on Muslim-Christian dialogue, evangelical and pentecostal movements, religious politics, and American Islam.
Matthew Taylor joins Tom in Studio A.
Dr. Bradley Onishi is a religion scholar on the faculty of the University of San Francisco, and the host of a podcast called Straight White American Jesus. His new book is called Preparing for War: The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism–And What Comes Next.
He’ll discuss the book tomorrow (Friday, January 6) at noon in an online forum hosted by Matthew Taylor and sponsored by the Institute for Islamic, Christian and Jewish Studies.
Drs. Onishi and Taylor are also the co-hosts of an audio documentary series that examines the role of Christian Nationalists in the Jan. 6 riot at the US Capital. It’s called Charismatic Revival Fury: The New Apostolic Reformation. You can find it on the Straight White American Jesus podcast.
Bradley Onishi joins us on Zoom (and phone) from San Francisco…
