Earlier this week, news outlets from the Washington Post to Haaretz reported a story about a weekly Cabinet Bible study, including prominent members of the administration such as Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, and Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price.
But less attention was paid to the original that got the scoop: a new weekly Facebook Live TV show on Pat Robertson’ Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN also the network behind the wildly popular and long-running The 700 Club), whose position at the intersection of faith, news, and propaganda may make it one of the Trump administration’s most potent and dangerous mouthpieces yet.
Faith Nation, hosted by CBN anchors David Brody and Jenna Browder, aired its first episode on July 19. It premiered just days after Donald Trump sat down for a one-on-one interview with Robertson, the network’s founder, who made a name for himself with the intensity of his apocalyptic rhetoric. The softball tone of that interview on the heels of the news that Donald Trump Jr. met with a Kremlin-connected lawyer during the presidential campaign was striking. Striking, too, was the degree to which it seemed to herald an increasing willingness on the part of Trump or his advisers not only to appeal to his evangelical base but to delegitimize the mainstream media on two fronts: as both untrustworthy and, implicitly, ungodly.
