Left-wing “Stand By Me” director Rob Reiner continued his crusade against former President Donald Trump with a hysterical accusation about how he is the “mouthpiece” for the Christian nationalist movement.
In an interview on MSNBC’s “The Beat” to promote his new anti-Trump documentary, “God & Country,” which explores the “danger” of Christian nationalism, Reiner sounded off on Conservative members of Congress.
“They’re not right-wing, they’re not left wing, they’re not anything except Donald Trump,” he stated on Monday.
He claimed that the Congress was at a stand still, and unable to take on the border crisis or the conflict in Ukraine, “at the behest of Donald Trump,” who essentially wants to “lay the blame at the feet of [President] Joe Biden,” so he can get an “advantage” in the upcoming election.
In 2016, Donald Trump was Vladimir Putin’s useful idiot. He helped him win the Presidency. Now Putin’s got Republican leadership eating out of his hand. He thinks he can destroy American Democracy. We have the power to stop him with a vote for Joe Biden.
— Rob Reiner (@robreiner) February 21, 2024
“Meanwhile, people are hurting, people are struggling,” he postured. “It’s disgraceful what’s happening in the House of Representatives right now.”
After showing a clip of the film, Reiner said there’s a “direct connection” between the Christian extremism and the “risk” to the nation.
“There are very conservative Christian evangelicals, pastors, very respected people in the Christian community, that are frightened of this Christian nationalist movement,” he told host Ari Melber. “They are not only frightened about it hurting democracy, but Christianity itself.
Faith leaders tell us that Christian Nationalism is not only a threat to Democracy, but to Christianity itself. God and Country opens nationally in theaters today. If you’re in LA, join director Dan Partland at the Landmark theatre for a screening and Q&A. pic.twitter.com/cc9VjEVOPu
— Rob Reiner (@robreiner) February 16, 2024
“And we show in the film that this movement was the foundation for January 6. They were the moving elements that made January 6 and the insurrection happened,” he accused. “Now, we have a Speaker of the House who is an avowed Christian nationalist.”
Reiner claimed that according to Rep. Mike Johnson, “the teachings of the bible and whatever he believes God’s will is, overtakes the constitution.”
He also noted that all decisions in the House “have to be made” on Johnson’s “thinking.”
Reiner claimed that Christian nationalism is embedded in the government and Trump “is more than happy to be their mouthpiece.”
The “A Few Good Men” director added that “it’s a very scary” notion, as he believes the nation can fall into an autocracy “very easily.”
“You hear this all the time on your show and many other shows, but the fight right now as between whether or not we preserve our democracy or we slip into a theocratic autocracy,” he continued.
Here’s your choice: A Fraud, a Rapist, and a failure who tried to overthrow the Government or good man who’s spent his whole life making things better for America.
— Rob Reiner (@robreiner) February 18, 2024
Reiner insisted that a government ruled by religious authority is what the Christian nationalist movement “wants.”
“They believe that this is a white Christian nation. That’s what it should be,” he carried on. “And that’s what we bring out in the film. And they’re not only poisoning democracy, they’re also poisoning Christianity.”
The Hollywood liberal said that politicians that believe their actions are motivated by “God’s will” give themselves the permission to “do anything they want.”
“Make no mistake,” he concluded. This is not a religious movement, this is a political movement that is after sheer power.”
His “fear” is that Trump is their “mouthpiece,” and he is going to ride this or he’s going to try to ride this all the way to the White House.”
In a different interview with Newsweek, Reiner remarked that Christian nationalism directly goes against the U.S. Constitution.
“The Christian nationalist movement is totally antithetical to that—it says that it’s my way or the highway and will resort to violence if we don’t get our way, which is what we saw happening on January 6,” he told the outlet.
“I can criticize Trump because he’s the one who’s roping these people into this thinking,” he asserted about the former president’s roll in the Capitol riot.
“Trump is a cult, and people who follow the cult are vulnerable,” Reiner concluded. “They’re looking for meaning, they’re looking for a direction, and you can get swept up in something [like that].”