Why Is a White Guy Calling Harris a "Jezebel?"
A deep dive into decoding this Christian Nationalist insult (Scroll to the end to listen)
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A reader sent me this video shared by
and asked me to translate what the middle guy is saying. Since part of my mission is to help everyday Americans understand Christian Nationalist language when they see it in the wild, I’m expanding my comment reply into a newsletter.It would be easy to dismiss this as some epic batshittery, but it’s all drawn from the Old Testament, and Christian Nationalists LOVE them some Old Testament God.
For readers who didn’t grow up in Christian Nationalism, Old Testament God intended for Israel to be a true theocracy, where he communicated directly with his chosen spokespeople through prophets and judges. Think Moses. Joshua. Samuel. Elijah. Elisha.
But the Israelites didn’t want to be a theocracy. They craved a human king. So Old Testament God gave them a reality show of the Worst of Humanity. Ahab was one of those kings. He was vicious and greedy, selfish and cruel. But his true crime was marrying Jezebel, a Phoenician queen. After Jezebel married Ahab, she brought the worship of the Phoenician god Baal to ancient Israel during the Old Testament period of the judges.
In Christian Nationalism, Jezebel is code for wicked woman. Here’s why that label matters for the election.
Christian Nationalists call out Jezebel as a foreign temptress and witch who seduced Ahab into allowing the Israelites to worship false gods. They often point to Jezebel as an example of what women do with power and why they should never be elevated to positions of authority. Even though Ahab was a king and strong in his own right, he was still too weak to resist the "temptation" of this "wicked woman," thus allowing idol worship. (To be fair, Jezebel was a pretty awful human being.)
To the Christian Nationalist in the video, Kamala Harris is a Jezebel, or wicked woman, BECAUSE she seeks the kind of power and authority he thinks women should not want or have. Calling her Jezebel is their insinuation that a powerful woman will lead good people (read: white men) astray.
He also applies the word witchcraft to her.
Christian Nationalists believe worshipping any god but the One True God is heresy and witchcraft. I covered this concept in my newsletter about Project 2025 contributor (and Dominionist Christian Nationalist extremist) Russ Vought:
A Christian Nationalist may casually level accusations of heresy and witchcraft but these words have a long sordid history winding through biblical times, the Spanish Inquisition, the Salem Witch Trials, and more. We are dealing with ideas that have existed for millennia. Religious extremists don’t use much creativity when repackaging.
Following this vein, their roster of witches or practitioners of witchcraft is extensive: Christians who are not Christian Nationalists; Catholics who are not Christian Nationalists; Jews; Muslims; Pagans; Hindus; Buddhists; Unitarians; Mormons; Jehovahs Witnesses; atheists; agnostics; yogis; reiki practitioners; tarot readers; astrologers; people who practice any other faith modality. "Witchcraft" is code for "does not worship the One True God."
Which is why it is so critical to help Americans of all faiths and no faith understand what Christian Nationalists mean when they say things.
Every American should hear this extremist Christian Nationalist white man raving about Jezebel and witchcraft in their heads when Republicans say whatever awful things they’re currently saying about Kamala Harris. THIS VIDEO is what they mean.
Thanks Andra. I was aware of the reference. I read that the reference was also used for women of color in relation to slavery times. Unfortunately it appears it can still be applied in racism today. It is anti woman and lacks a loving kindness towards women and everyone.
Did we just time travel back 300 years to Salem? I feel like I live in an episode of the Twilight Zone most days.
I guess we collectively need to see all the nuttiness going on so we can’t pretend it doesn’t exist anymore. Jezebel? Witches? The occult? The biggest evil I see is rooted in the right wing ideology of white supremacy and survival of the patriarchy,