The 2024 election ushered in a new era of hope for religious Americans, who had just survived one of the most hostile administrations in American history and been rescued from the possibility of a Harris–Walz hellscape.
This hope transformed into intense religious revival and political conviction following the gruesome assassination of Turning Point USA founder and president Charlie Kirk in 2025. Catholics and Protestants unified in mourning Kirk’s death. They looked towards the future with faith and hope for change, motivated by their shared Christian values.
Today, increased political vitriol is driving a wedge between those who have an obligation to unite in defence of the country. In March, numerous public figures joined in what appears to be growing anti-Catholic sentiment, pitting Catholics against Protestants while distracting Americans from pressing political priorities.
On March 15, Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas promoted an essay posted by ‘Insurrection Barbie’ that accused Catholic integralists, among others, of dividing the conservative movement and contributing to growing Evangelical scepticism about support for Israel. As the Catholic Herald previously reported, the essay heavily criticised traditional Catholic groups, frames Evangelicalism as inherently connected to Zionism, accuses Catholicism of being anti-Zionist, and ultimately concludes that Catholic integralism is hell-bent on destroying ‘Christian Zionism’.
After receiving aggressive pushback from Catholics online, Cruz defended the essay, writing: ‘I read it as precisely the opposite. We desperately need to preserve the strong union of faithful Catholics and Evangelical Protestants.’
Whether Cruz actually read the likely AI-generated piece is questionable. It is unquestionable, however, that Cruz’s approach is contributing to anti-Catholic sentiment that the conservative movement cannot afford.
Idaho preacher Doug Wilson similarly drew criticism in March for calling Catholic Marian and Eucharistic processions ‘idolatrous’ and saying that in an ideal America they should be banned. One month earlier, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth hosted Wilson to give a sermon at the Pentagon.
Some evangelicals have also equated Catholic devotion to Mary with demonic possession. Recently, a controversial podcaster discussed her Marian devotion at an event organised by the Catholics for Catholics group. The individual – who has spent the past few months promoting allegations about Kirk’s widow and raising questions over whether Kirk was considering converting to Catholicism – was not the ideal person to explain Catholic theology on the issue.
Despite this, some Christian political commentators took advantage of her comments to criticise Catholic beliefs in general, writing that her alleged ‘blaspheming’ and ‘idolatry’ were the reason for her becoming increasingly ‘wicked’. The insinuation that all faithful Catholics will become ‘wicked’ for following Church doctrine on the Blessed Mother is insulting.
Other commentators have equated Catholicism with growing anti-Semitism on the political right. Tensions rose to the point that the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops felt compelled to publish a video reminding Americans that the Catholic Church stands firmly against anti-Semitism and discrimination of any kind.
In an attempt to correct ‘Insurrection-Barbie’-Gate, Cruz reposted the bishops’ video, praising its ‘clarity’ and reaffirming his support for the political unity of Catholics, Protestants and Jews. This belated correction does not negate the fact that Cruz contributed to the interfaith hostilities by sharing the essay in the first place.
The faith-related vitriol on X/Twitter recently is unacceptable and damaging to the conservative movement at large. Catholics have no expectation that Protestants subscribe to Catholic beliefs on issues such as Marian devotion or the Real Presence of the Eucharist. They do expect mutual religious respect from their allies against what they see as the left’s hostility to religion.
Attempts to use a handful of controversial podcasters or traditional Catholics as evidence of Catholicism’s bad influence are disingenuous and harmful. It is also a slippery slope.
Recent experience suggests how quickly such rhetoric can translate into wider hostility. The Biden administration’s actions towards people of faith included explicit animus towards Catholics. Not only did the administration seek to imprison numerous Catholics for non-violent crimes, and ignore widespread physical attacks against them, but the Federal Bureau of Investigation was reportedly found to have monitored traditional Catholics at religious services – even infiltrating church choirs – based on a bigoted memo that claimed Catholics posed an extremist threat.
Liz Wheeler, the conservative commentator and host of her own show, noted the irony of ‘Insurrection-Barbie’-Gate in light of that memo. ‘This smacks of the same anti-Catholic bigotry contained in the FBI’s nasty memo alleging that Catholics who pray the Rosary are extremists,’ Wheeler wrote on X/Twitter. ‘Insinuating that Catholics who prefer a reverent liturgy like the Traditional Latin Mass (totally licit and mainstream) and who debate the merits of parts of Vatican II are subversives plotting the downfall of America? Utter bigotry. Nasty stuff.’
Wheeler has a point. When conservatives discovered the FBI memo, people of all faiths coalesced to defend core constitutional freedoms. They successfully voted the Biden–Harris administration out of office in 2024. Now, the petty infighting suggests that some believe the battle has been won. If Kirk’s murder and the rise of figures such as Abigail Spanberger and Gavin Newsom have taught anything, however, it is that the progressive Left continues to act in unison, determined to implement its agenda in 2028.
This threat makes the political infighting among would-be allies all the more troubling. America cannot afford for Catholic and Protestant conservatives to undermine each other with infighting. The future of American freedoms depends on their unified defence against the unrelenting siege of radical leftists.
Catholics and Protestants will always have differences. The question is whether they have the humility to set those aside for the greater good of the country.
