Trump, the Pope, and the Myth of Western Civilization

Straight White American Jesus

Axis Mundi Media: Bradley Onishi + Daniel Miller

News, Politics

4.7 • 2K Ratings

🗓️ 14 April 2026

⏱️ 21 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode, Brad Onishi unpacks the escalating clash between Donald Trump and Pope Leo—from Trump’s public criticism of the Pope to the now-viral AI image depicting himself as Jesus. What might seem like another headline-grabbing controversy reveals deeper tensions between political power and religious authority, especially as figures like JD Vance attempt to downplay the conflict while advancing a broader ideological vision. Going beyond the news cycle, this episode explores the concept of “civilizational populism” and how it helps explain the contradictions at play: a movement that invokes Christianity and Western civilization while sidelining actual religious institutions and leaders. By tracing the intersection of theology, nationalism, and political strategy, Onishi offers a framework for understanding why this moment matters—and what it signals about the future of religion and power in American public life. www.axismundi.us Subscribe for $3.65:⁠ ⁠https://axismundi.supercast.com/⁠⁠ Subscribe to our free newsletter:⁠ ⁠https://swaj.substack.com/⁠⁠ Order American Caesar by Brad Onishi:⁠ ⁠⁠⁠https://static.macmillan.com/static/essentials/american-caesar-9781250427922/⁠⁠ Donate to SWAJ: ⁠https://axismundi.supercast.com/donations/new Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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1:45.5	What's up, y'all? Welcome to Straight White American Jesus. Today I want to talk about Donald Trump, the Pope, J.D. Vance, and civilizational populism. Before we do that, I want to invite you to a special event on April 23rd with me, Sarah Posner, Matthew Taylor,
1:46.7	Julie Ingersoll.
1:51.8	We'll be talking about Iran and Christian nationalism and Holy War.
1:55.4	It's also a fundraiser for Season 2 of Rain of Error.
1:59.3	If you enjoyed that show, come and join us and hang out and participate.
2:05.1	You don't have to give money if you want to just be there, ask a question, get to hear insight from all of us.
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	...

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