'Christ is king' becomes a charged phrase in US political debates

Body

The phrase “Christ is king,” a traditional proclamation in Christianity, has become a charged slogan in parts of US political debate as some observers say it is increasingly used in ways hostile to Jews or in conjunction with antisemitic messaging, according to an Associated Press report.

On its own, “Christ is king” expresses a basic Christian belief in Jesus as divine ruler of the universe, and many Catholics and Protestants observe a “Christ the King Sunday” each year. But the report says the phrase has “morph[ed] into something political” depending on who uses it and how it is presented, with recent years bringing more appearances at rallies, on social media, and in speeches by voices on the right.

The Associated Press report describes a pattern in which “Christ is king” is sometimes used to frame the United States as a Christian nation, or as owing allegiance specifically to the Christian God, while at other times activists have paired it with anti-Zionist statements or with negative Jewish stereotypes. The report also links the dispute to a schism on the right, including some conservatives pushing back against what critics say is an increasingly vocal faction whose denunciations of Israel are accompanied by antisemitism.

A 2025 report cited in the Associated Press story was issued by the Rutgers University-affiliated Network Contagion Research Institute. The institute said it analyzed social media postings between 2021 and 2024 and found a “dramatic increase” in the use of “Christ is king,” often as a hate meme targeting Jews. The institute warned about what it described as a deviation from the phrase’s historical use as a hopeful, sacred affirmation, and it said that “The weaponization or hijacking of ‘Christ is King’ represents a disturbing inversion of its original intent. Rather than sacralizing shared values, extremists have exploited this religious expression to justify hatred,” in the language attributed to the report.

The controversy drew renewed attention at a Religious Liberty Commission hearing held Feb. 9, where the panel focused on antisemitism. In testimony, Seth Dillon, the CEO of the conservative satirical site The Babylon Bee, described hearing people use the phrase “Christ is king” and then “followed immediately by a highly contemptuous slur toward Jews,” the Associated Press report said. Dillon told commissioners, “This should offend every Christian,” according to the report.

Commission member Carrie Prejean Boller repeatedly pressed witnesses on whether opposition to Zionism can be construed as antisemitic. She said she opposes Zionism as a Catholic but that this is not antisemitic, and she asked Dillon if he thought “saying ‘Christ is king’ is antisemitic.” Dillon said no, and testified that as a Christian he regularly declares that “Christ is my king,” while also saying “context matters,” as described by the report.

Dillon also testified that the phrase has been co-opted by Groypers, an allusion tied in the report to far-right influencer Nick Fuentes and his followers, and he said extremists were “using the Lord’s name in an abusive manner.” The report further said Fuentes’ supporters chanted “Christ is king” at the Million MAGA March in November 2020, a rally that rejected the Republican President Donald Trump’s loss in the 2020 presidential election.

After the Feb. 9 meeting, the Associated Press report says Patrick announced the removal of Prejean Boller from the panel. Patrick asserted that she tried to “hijack” the hearing for her agenda, and the report says Prejean Boller subsequently posted on X, including denouncing “Zionist supremacists” and repeatedly using “Christ is King.” It also says she denounced the US and Israel’s war against Iran, and that the report described her as a Catholic convert who opposes an evangelical view that modern-day Israel fulfills biblical prophecy.

The Associated Press story also includes pushback from religious and political observers who argue that the phrase itself is not inherently political. Brian Kaylor, identified as a Baptist minister and author of books on religion and politics who leads Word&Way, told the hearing that while “Christ is king” is not inherently political, the phrase provides “deniability” to those politicizing it, according to the report. Kaylor said the phrase is “a declaration of Christian nationalism” in some uses, describing it as a claim that the nation should be brought under the dictates of Christ, and he warned that antisemitic use risked becoming “the dominant definition,” as the report characterized his remarks.

The report situates the hearing within broader religious and political fissures, pointing to the Vatican’s diplomatic ties with Israel and its recognition of a state of Palestine, and it notes that Pope Leo XIV has called for a two-state solution while denouncing antisemitism. It also says other Catholics on the commission noted that Jesus and his followers were Jews and referenced a 1965 Vatican document rejecting antisemitism and blaming Jews for Jesus’ crucifixion. The Associated Press report says Patrick described the dispute with Prejean Boller as involving “a real problem with a very small group in our Republican Party,” and he warned that antisemitism must be repudiated, telling listeners that otherwise it could “destroy our party.”

In the background of the dispute, the Associated Press report also ties “Christ is king” to far-right commerce and social influence, including the conservative influencer Candace Owens, who it says sells branded “Christ is King” coffee mugs and T-shirts and shares antisemitic conspiracies. It also describes Fuentes as having said the Holocaust was exaggerated and as having denounced “organized Jewry in America,” in language the report attributes to Fuentes, and it characterizes his statements as using antisemitic tropes.