In Money, Lies, and God (Bloomsbury, Feb.), journalist Katherine Stewart reports on America’s growing antidemocratic movement.
How did a movement to undermine democracy take root in the U.S.?
Because people haven’t been paying attention—to the money that’s been invested in it, to the misinformation bubble that money has funded, and to the networks that developed. The machinery has been developed over decades. That machinery has promoted catastrophism and a persecution narrative—the idea that American culture and society is so thoroughly corrupt that we’re on the brink of an apocalypse, and therefore, that the rules don’t apply.
You write that the growth of the movement over the past 15 years has been “breathtaking.” What most contributed to that growth?
The capture of the judiciary, the proliferation of disinformation and conspiracism, the networks that formed between various elements of the right, and the amounts of money involved. You have super-wealthy people committed to the idea that in order to preserve and increase their wealth, subverting democracy is to their benefit. So the money flowing into this movement has increased tremendously.
What else do you highlight about the movement?
I draw attention to various groups that are working alongside the Christian nationalist movement, to the intellectual element—a collection of reactionary thinkers who are essentially hammering out a new fascist ideology—and to the movement’s shifting demographics. Some Pentecostal Latino congregations, in particular, have been drawn into hard right political networks because there’s been significant outreach to them. And I make a final point that should be underscored. This is not a social or cultural movement—this is a political movement, and it’s now quite explicitly authoritarian and antidemocratic. In earlier times, there was talk about winning over voters—today, it’s explicitly about a minority establishing minority rule.
Has Trump’s reelection changed your thinking?
I wish the outcome had been different. It’s not like I didn’t see it coming. But I had hoped that this book, when it came out, would be less relevant.
Is the anti-democrats’ financial advantage insurmountable?
There’s a lot of liberal money, but it’s spent differently. The right has invested in networks, specifically in these Christian nationalist movements, that draw in pastors and give them sophisticated data tools to turn out the vote. It’s incredibly targeted. On the liberal side, political giving goes to politicians. But if a politician loses, the money goes away. Investing in networks and infrastructure is a more efficient use of money. One respected Republican political operative said, “This is a movement that could fit into a phone booth.” Now that phone booth will be moving into the White House.
