Because the letter alludes to the American right's global influence, particularly in Canada, some discussion of non-American Christian nationalists is warranted. To that end, this section offers illustrations of how sanctified Sinophobia has taken root abroad.

Derek Sloan: Member of Parliament, Canada (01.04.21).

The 36-year-old Conservative MP is well known in Canada as an aspiring Trumpist. The Toronto Star's Alex Boutilier points out that Sloan "cribbed policies from U.S. President Trump" during his failed bid for Conservative party leadership. During his leadership bid, Sloan accused federal chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam of harboring loyalties to the Chinese government. On April 21, 2020, Sloan tweeted, "Dr. Tam must go! Canada must remain sovereign over decisions. The UN, the WHO, and Chinese Communist propaganda must never have a say over Canada’s public health!” In the accompanying video, Sloan bases his accusation on the fact that Dr. Tam participated in a WHO panel, asking whether Dr. Tam works "for Canada or for China." In a clear allusion to one of Trump's signature slogans, Sloan also declares that the country must put "Canadians first." Sloan subsequently refused to apologize despite objections from his own party, insisting that the question was merely "rhetorical." Stephen Zhou of Foreign Policy notes that Sloan's accusation echoes emerging Canadian far right theories that frame Tam as a veteran Chinese spy. Zhou goes on to observe that Sloan is part of a wave of Canadian politicians "inspired [by Trump] to try and build their own anti-immigrant base."

Sloan, a Seventh Day Adventist member of College Park Church in Oshawa, ON, has said of his election, "God was leading me, and . . . God had placed me in the riding at an opportune time, and a lot of doors opened for me." In a gesture towards the more muted role that religion plays in Canadian politics, Sloan says in the same interview that his desire to advocate for "people who hold non-mainstream views" encompasses both those "of a religious persuasion" and "others as well." Nonetheless, Sloan's participation in such events as a "God and Government Youth Conference" and meetings of the Canadian Christian Business Federation underscore his affiliation with an American brand of pro-market religious nationalism. In that context, Sloan's accusation parallels the yoking of Christian patriotism and anti-Chinese rhetoric that prevails south of the Canadian border.

01.21.21: MP Derek Sloan was expelled from Canada's Conservative Party on Jan. 20, 2021, owing to the revelation that he had accepted a donation from a notorious white supremacist. Whether Party leader Erin O'Toole's declaration that racism is a "disease of the soul" translates into a purging of anti-Chinese rhetoric from his party remains to be seen.

7.26.21. Rep. Lauren Boebert has attended the New Creation Church of Glenwood Springs since at least 2013 (see documentation here). She has repeatedly used the term "China Virus," and asserted that "China released COVID onto the world." In her hometown of Rifle, CO, at least one Chinese American has faced racist taunts during the pandemic, consistent with trends throughout Boebert's state.

New Creation Church of Glenwood Springs is a non-denominational church, pastored by Mark and Tasha Bintliff. Pastor Mark is a regional director for Rhema Ministerial Alliance International, an organization linked to the ministry of late Pentecostal pastor Kenneth Hagin.

8.18.21. While the open letter focuses on politicians, Tucker Carlson's Episcopal affiliation, combined with his highly influential Fox News program, warrants inclusion here. As the host of Tucker Carlson Tonight on Fox, Carlson has earned admiration from white supremacists such as those in charge of the website VDARE who praised his insinuations that immigrants were replacing white Americans as "one of the best things Fox News has ever aired." Carlson's racism has targeted interracial marriage, Black people, Latino immigrants, Iraqis, and Afghan refugees. In March 2020, he defended Trump's use of the term "Chinese Virus," arguing that it represented Trump "at his very best." Carlson's general embrace of Christian nationalism is seen in his enthusiastic trip to Hungary, where he praised Viktor Orban's blatantly theocratic policies as producing a country "freer" than the United States.

Tucker Carlson is a long time member of the Episcopal Church. Up to July 2020, he attended Christ Church Georgetown in Washington, DC, which has hosted several "conversations on race and culture." The church's rector, Timothy Cole, seems proud of what he called the church's "valuable and high-level contribution to the national reflection on... the issue of race."

In July 2020, Carlson moved to Boca Grande, FL. As Boca Grande boasts only one Episcopal parish, it seems reasonable to assume that he is, at the least, an intermittent attendee at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church. St. Andrew's, currently led by Rector Michelle Robertshaw, claims that it aspires to respond to "human needs in Boca Grande, our diocese, Florida, and elsewhere in the world."

10.30.21. On October 20, I spoke with Rev. Michelle Robertshaw of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Boca Grande, FL about the open letter and its call for churches associated with Christian nationalists to hold their congregants/attendees/parishioners responsible for their words and actions. Rev. Robertshaw indicated that she intends to arrange phone call between myself and Tucker Carlson. She also informed me that she has had sporadic contact with Tucker over the years, having seen him a few times at the parish. After I contacted her about the letter, she spoke to him about its contents. While Tucker has thus far not conceded its core assertions about the racist nature of his rhetoric, he indicated an openness to discussing the letter's core contents with me, in a phone call (*not* on his show).. I'm waiting to hear back from her.

7.5.21:

24-year-old Madison Cawthorn, who began serving as a U.S. Representative on Jan. 3 of this year, is a member of Biltmore Church's Hendersonville Campus. He has preached at Community Bible Church of Highlands, NC.

On April 27, 2020, he posted an entry in his "Town Hall Square" video series in which he claimed that the "Chinese coronavirus" had taught America that "we can no longer trust China," going on to say that Americans should only rely on China to produce "cheap trinkets." By April 27, the harm of terms like "Chinese Coronavirus" had already become clear, particularly after Rep. Kevin McCarthy's use of the same term. Rep. Cawthorn ends the video by reminding the viewer of his Christian faith, signing off with "God bless."

In 2021, Cawthorn has issued a steady stream of anti-Chinese commentary via his Twitter account. On February 5, 2021, Cawthorn responded to rumors about Rep. Eric Swalwell's ties to a Chinese spy. Noting that Swalwell had expressed "how angry he was at me on January 6th for defending election integrity," Cawthorn replied, "Eric, to be honest, In that moment I was thinking, 'I wonder how good his Chinese is?'" A tweet from March 29, 2021 reads, "China caused [the pandemic in America], and they should pay for it."

Rep. Cawthorn has also been accused of inciting the Jan. 6 Capitol riots. His candidacy was tainted by speculation about the degree of his interest in Nazism, as evidenced by an Instagram post of his visit to Hitler's Eagle's Nest that included reference to Hitler as "The Fuhrer." His sermon at Community Bible Church included reference to "Jewish blood" to distinguish Jews' from Gentiles' response to Jesus' words in the Gospel of Mark.

Biltmore Church is part of the Southern Baptist Convention, whose controversial stances on race are outlined in the letter's section on Sen. Lindsay Graham. The church, composed of 6 campuses (with 2 more planned) , is headed by Pastor Bruce Frank; his son Tyler pastors the Hendersonville campus. Bruce has touted Benjamin Watson's book on racism, Under Our Skin, on Twitter. Tyler has described as "helpful" Dr. Tim Keller's critique of "secular justice and critical theory," which claims that "postmodern justice theory" (anything other than "Biblical," classically liberal, or libertarian approaches to justice) is "incoherent" and "undermines our common humanity." In June 2020, Biltmore hosted a live panel discussion on race.

North Carolina was home to approximately 309,905 Asian Americans as of 2019. Rep. Cawthorn's district, NC-11, is home to approximately 7700 Asians. In March, during a Zoom webinar, a queer Asian American woman in Ashville was subjected to a "Zoombombing" in which intruders hurled anti-Asian and homophobic epithets at her. Between March 19 and August 5, 2020, 21 anti-Asian incidents in North Carolina were reported to Stop AAPI Hate.

While Rep. Cawthorn is not included in the original list of politicians, it is consistent with the will of this open letter's signatories that he, and Biltmore Church, answer for his unrepentant racism.

4.5.21. Former Arkansas governor and Southern Baptist minister Mike Huckabee, who now hosts the TBN talk show Huckabee, has used the terms "Chinese Virus" and "Wuhan Virus" throughout the pandemic. In fact, Huckabee began using the term "Wuhan virus" in mid-March, before switching over to favor the even more racist "Chinese Virus" starting in April. He first used the term "Wuhan virus" on 3.13.20, the same day he posted another tweet hailing Trump for supposedly "helping to save dogs from Chinese meat markets" at a fundraiser for Big Dog Rescue Ranch. (On its website, BDRR highlights China as just one of several countries where it does its work; the Fox News article Huckabee linked to about the fundraiser included no mention of China.) Huckabee posted these tweets several days after Asian American politicians and activist groups had already condemned the term as racist. A day later, on 3.14.20, the growing national animus against Asians resulted in the stabbings of a 2-year-old, 6-year-old, and their father in a Midland TX Sam's Club. The perpetrator said he did it because they "looked Chinese."

On 3.15.20, as the Cung family recovered from attempted manslaughter, Huckabee tweeted a "joke" inserting the term "Kung Flu" into an impression of Joe Biden.

Huckabee's 4.28.20 tweet, which coupled "Wuhan Virus" with the mildly joking phrase "God bless Waffle House," exemplifies how sanctified Sinophobia often hinges on wrapping anti-Asian prejudice in a combination of piety and humor. Lacking the vehement hostility that sometimes characterizes other uses of the term, Huckabee's folksy affect enables him to incite racism without attracting too much attention.

On 4.4.21, Huckabee tweeted, "I've decided to 'identify' as Chinese. Coke will like me, Delta will agree with my "values" and I'll probably get shoes from Nike & tickets to @MLB games. Ain't America great?" Liked thousands of times, the tweet draws on right wing talking points about Coke and Delta's putative hypocrisy for condemning Georgia voter suppression laws while continuing to do business in China. In addition to transphobic mockery of "identifying" discourse, the tweet relies on slippage between usage of "Chinese" to refer to either ethnicity or nationality. It also reinforces stereotypes about Asians as a favored class in America.

In response to minister Beth Moore criticizing Huckabee for making a statement "antithetical to the gospel," Huckabee again resorted to a coupling of humor and piety, claiming, "I don't take Twitter or myself seriously but I do take gospel seriously . . . May the power of the resurrection lift you to high places this Easter weekend!" Whether Huckabee takes the humanity of Asian people seriously, he did not mention. Huckabee later doubled down, "joking" that Coke would change its name to "Woke-a-Cola" to placate the "Chinese Communist Party."

Huckabee's anti-Asian racism is in keeping with his history of outright support for white supremacist groups and iconography. In 1993, one year after leaving his post at Beech Street First Baptist to become AR's lieutenant governor, Huckabee sent a video message to a conference hosted by white nationalist group Council of Conservative Citizens. According to a CCC newsletter from the same time period, the speech was "extremely well received." In January 2008, during the Republican primary, Huckabee defended the Confederate flag at an event in South Carolina.

Huckabee's current house of worship is not publicly available. However, throughout his career, he has been extremely vocal about his Christian faith. He pastored at AR's Immanuel Baptist Church from 1980 to 1986, and AR's Beech Street First Baptist Church from 1986 to 1992. From 1989 to 1991, he also served as the youngest ever president of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention. His denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention, is shared by 3 of the politicians named in the letter: Ted Cruz, Lindsey Graham, and Kevin McCarthy. He presently also serves on the board of an ACA-exempt "Christian health care sharing ministry," OneShare, one of many similar ministries that pool member contributions without guaranteeing health coverage.

While he is no longer a serving politician, Huckabee's influence continues to be considerable, particularly in light of his close relationship with his daughter, Sarah Huckabee-Sanders, currently running for governor of Arkansas. (She has issued no comment on her father's anti-Asian racism.) The spirit of the letter therefore demands repentance, accountability, and transformation from him and his current church.

10.16.21. Radio talk show host, author, and right wing commentator Eric Metaxas has consistently disparaged China since at least 2011, when he responded to the prospect of a Chinese-speaking president with the sarcastic tweet, "Just what America is looking for!"

During the pandemic, Metaxas mocked concerns about the racism of terms like "Chinese Virus": "During this difficult time in our nation's history, please pitch in by refraining from using the following incendiary racist terms: 'Greek Life,' 'Spanish Omelette,' 'French Cuffs,' 'Dutch Oven,' and 'Brazilian' anything." He also "joked" that the song "Kung Fu Fighting" represented "the first Chinese virus to strike American shores," and that Trump would "jump the fountains at Caesar's Palace in Vegas" to celebrate "beating the China virus." These blatantly racist tweets are interspersed with fearmongering about China's influence on America, as in this tweet that coupled transphobia and Sinophobia: commenting on Rand Paul's criticism of transgender surgeon Dr. Rachel Levine, Metaxas wrote, "I wonder what CCP leadership in Beijing make of this. Should we trade with a country that thinks Rachel is a man?" As part of his consistent allegations that the 2020 election was stolen, Metaxas has insinuated that President Biden is "murdering America" due to a "deal he made with China."

Metaxas has claimed that his attacks on "the Chinese" only pertain to the CCP, ignoring the extent to which encouraging use of terms like "China Virus," not to mention hyperbolic fearmongering about China in general, contributes to attacks on AAPI Americans and the stigmatizing of Asians around the world.

Metaxas' racism is not limited to Asians. His "children's book," Donald Builds the Wall, features dehumanizing depictions of Central American immigrants (allegorically portrayed as imbecilic dinosaurs) whom an idealized version of Donald Trump (portrayed as blond and muscular) repels from a protective wall around his "kingdom." Blogger Libby Anne Nelson compared the book to Nazi children's propaganda.

Eric Metaxas currently attends Central Presbyterian Church in NYC, a member of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. While it is unclear whether he holds official membership at this church, his willingness to broadcast his membership indicates an enthusiasm for being associated with it. Before attending Central Presbyterian, Metaxas was a member of Calvary-St. George's Episcopal Church in Manhattan, attending since 2001 serving on its vestry as of 2012. Calvary-St. George's is led by the Rev. Jacob Andrew Smith. In 2007, Metaxas stated that "the Episcopal church has turned its back on the historic Christian faith," which may account for his changing parishes.

Metaxas achieved his current reach, in no small part, due to the meteoric success of his biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy. Critiqued by Bonhoeffer historian Charles Marsh for its myriad errors and ideologically motivated distortions, the biography is now marketed as a "runaway New York Times bestseller." The book's success is at least partially attributable to the foreword written by Metaxas' friend, popular Evangelical pastor Tim Keller. To this day, Metaxas seems proud of the association, featuring the foreword on his website. Tim Keller, who has written a book about the dangers of nationalism, has issued no comment on his associate's fascism, racism, and questionable historiography.

While Metaxas is not a politician, he joins Tucker Carlson and Mike Huckabee as right wing personalities whose influence approaches those of elected officials. As such, the spirit of the letter demands repentance and accountability from him and his enablers as well.

12.23.20:

While McSally's church membership is not publicly known, she did speak at Trinity Church on October 18, 2020. Introducing McSally to the church, Driscoll noted that McSally has a few friends in the church (00:22 of the video) who proposed the guest appearance. Driscoll framed the talk as an opportunity for McSally to talk about "her faith journey and her relationship with Jesus." During the appearance, McSally's comments about "disgusting" Chinese dietary practices do not come up. However, she does discuss suing the Pentagon for making her wear Muslim garb during her military service in Saudi Arabia (05:43), omitting the Islamophobic jokes that she has previously offered when telling the story. At the end of the clip, McSally notes that she is heading back to Washington, saying, "We're not leaving until Judge [Amy Coney] Barrett is on the Supreme Court" (12:19). Amidst applause, Driscoll responds, "We're fine with that."

Mark Driscoll is best known for his almost 20-year stint as the head pastor of Seattle's Mars Hill Church, which closed in 2014 amidst accusations of misogyny, bullying, plagiarism, and mismanagement of church funds. Driscoll issued an apology for "anger," for "shortcomings," and for a what he called a misunderstanding of a marketing firm "manipulating a book sales reporting system." Ex-Mars Hill Church members deemed his apologies insufficient. His launch of Trinity Church in 2016 received skepticism, given the relatively brief period between his leaving one church and starting another. His uncritical interview with McSally, in which support for a Republican-appointed Supreme Court justice is passed off as a discussion of McSally's "relationship with Jesus," exemplifies the ethos of Christian nationalism: having a relationship with Christ means supporting right wing politics. One wonders how much he has learned about speaking to the entire body of Christ, not just a part of it.

Furthermore, while Driscoll is not McSally's pastor, his public comments on anti-Black police brutality this very year cast his celebration of her politics into sharp relief. In an article called "God's Fatherly Heart on the George Floyd Horror," Driscoll laments "a person in power harming and killing a powerless person who is not fighting back, but simply cannot breathe." Curiously, though, Driscoll never calls George Floyd's murder racist in itself, but does use the article to decry the "racism" of abortion and evolutionary theory. Juxtaposed with his indifference to McSally's Sinophobia (and Islamophobia), his article illustrates the way that pastors enmeshed in Christian nationalism carefully craft an appearance of caring about racism, while refusing to use their own power to confront influential purveyors of prejudice. Insofar as Trinity Church apparently has friends of McSally's within its ranks, Driscoll has an opening to challenge her and change her mind. Instead, he allowed her to use her appearance to launder her reputation and cast herself as "fighting for others who don't have a voice."

That Driscoll would ignore, or demonstrate incuriosity about, McSally's Sinophobia is consistent with his own history of ignorant or dismissive comments about China and Asian culture in general. In 2008, he quipped that church attendance in Seattle was "about the same as in Communist China," apparently not caring to learn that as many as 70 million Chinese nationals may have been practicing some form of Christianity that very year. Combining sexism and Orientalism, Driscoll in 2009 complained that the mainstream perception of Jesus was of a "very effeminate guy . . . always smiling, [making] pithy Zen statements that read like fortune cookies in a Chinese restaurant." In 2010, Driscoll condemned "Easternism," linking it with "yoga" and "meditation" and warning that it led to "demonism." Driscoll never clarified what he meant by this term.

Technically, Driscoll is not included in the demands made by this letter's signatories, which specifically address pastors of politicians' home churches. However, I personally believe that the law of love requires him, too, to answer for his silence.

12.23.20:

While McSally's church membership is not publicly known, she did speak at Trinity Church on October 18, 2020. Introducing McSally to the church, Driscoll noted that McSally has a few friends in the church (00:22 of the video) who proposed the guest appearance. Driscoll framed the talk as an opportunity for McSally to talk about "her faith journey and her relationship with Jesus." During the appearance, McSally's comments about "disgusting" Chinese dietary practices do not come up. However, she does discuss suing the Pentagon for making her wear Muslim garb during her military service in Saudi Arabia (05:43), omitting the Islamophobic jokes that she has previously offered when telling the story. At the end of the clip, McSally notes that she is heading back to Washington, saying, "We're not leaving until Judge [Amy Coney] Barrett is on the Supreme Court" (12:19). Amidst applause, Driscoll responds, "We're fine with that."

Mark Driscoll is best known for his almost 20-year stint as the head pastor of Seattle's Mars Hill Church, which closed in 2014 amidst accusations of misogyny, bullying, plagiarism, and mismanagement of church funds. Driscoll issued an apology for "anger," for "shortcomings," and for a what he called a misunderstanding of a marketing firm "manipulating a book sales reporting system." Ex-Mars Hill Church members deemed his apologies insufficient. His launch of Trinity Church in 2016 received skepticism, given the relatively brief period between his leaving one church and starting another. His uncritical interview with McSally, in which support for a Republican-appointed Supreme Court justice is passed off as a discussion of McSally's "relationship with Jesus," exemplifies the ethos of Christian nationalism: having a relationship with Christ means supporting right wing politics. One wonders how much he has learned about speaking to the entire body of Christ, not just a part of it.

Furthermore, while Driscoll is not McSally's pastor, his public comments on anti-Black police brutality this very year cast his celebration of her politics into sharp relief. In an article called "God's Fatherly Heart on the George Floyd Horror," Driscoll laments "a person in power harming and killing a powerless person who is not fighting back, but simply cannot breathe." Curiously, though, Driscoll never calls George Floyd's murder racist in itself, but does use the article to decry the "racism" of abortion and evolutionary theory. Juxtaposed with his indifference to McSally's Sinophobia (and Islamophobia), his article illustrates the way that pastors enmeshed in Christian nationalism carefully craft an appearance of caring about racism, while refusing to use their own power to confront influential purveyors of prejudice. Insofar as Trinity Church apparently has friends of McSally's within its ranks, Driscoll has an opening to challenge her and change her mind. Instead, he allowed her to use her appearance to launder her reputation and cast herself as "fighting for others who don't have a voice."

That Driscoll would ignore, or demonstrate incuriosity about, McSally's Sinophobia is consistent with his own history of ignorant or dismissive comments about China and Asian culture in general. In 2008, he quipped that church attendance in Seattle was "about the same as in Communist China," apparently not caring to learn that as many as 70 million Chinese nationals may have been practicing some form of Christianity that very year. Combining sexism and Orientalism, Driscoll in 2009 complained that the mainstream perception of Jesus was of a "very effeminate guy . . . always smiling, [making] pithy Zen statements that read like fortune cookies in a Chinese restaurant." In 2010, Driscoll condemned "Easternism," linking it with "yoga" and "meditation" and warning that it led to "demonism." Driscoll never clarified what he meant by this term.

Technically, Driscoll is not included in the demands made by this letter's signatories, which specifically address pastors of politicians' home churches. However, I personally believe that the law of love requires him, too, to answer for his silence.

7.26.21. Sen. Rand Paul is a longtime member of the Presbyterian Church in Bowling Green, a member of the mainline PCUSA denomination. Rand Paul has repeatedly promulgated the unfounded theory that COVID-19 was engineered in a lab in Wuhan, with funding and collaboration from Dr. Anthony Fauci. Paul was also one of the six Senators who voted against the COVID hate crimes bill, intended to address discrimination against Asian Americans during the pandemic. This was consistent with his decision to block the Emmett Till Antilynching Act, which would have specified lynching as a hate crime.

The Presbyterian Church in Bowling Green, pastored by Dr. Matthew Covington, prides itself on being a "Matthew 25 church," a reference to the Scripture passage in which Christ identifies with the stranger, the prisoner, and the impoverished. The church has hosted the Mexican Consulate of Indianapolis in its efforts to provide Mexican-born residents with passports and identification. Its denomination, the Presbyterian Church of the USA, is known for its progressive stances on race, gender, and sexual orientation.

9.19.21. Gov. Tate Reeves is a member of Galloway United Methodist Church in Jackson, MS. Reeves has used the term "China Virus" and refused to apologize, while declaring that he also opposes bullying of Asian Americans. This simultaneous condemnation of bullying and use of a racist slur encapsulates one popular strategy for disseminating anti-Asian racism: normalizing bigotry while claiming, in the next breath, to disavow that bigotry. Gov. Reeves' denunciations of China are frequently coupled with calls for God to bless America and contrasting glorifications of America's putative commitment to religious liberty. Framing China as the enemy of God's people and the antithesis of America's city on a hill illustrates how sanctified Sinophobia depends on casting China as an ultimate spiritual foe. His anti-Asian prejudice is in keeping with his history of racism, evidenced in his speaking at a Sons of Confederate Veterans event, proclaiming April Confederate Heritage month, and joining a fraternity known for blackface. (Tate denied wearing blackface and refused to apologize for speaking at the SCV event.)

Pastored by Revs. Susannah Grubbs Carr and Rev. Cary Stockett, Galloway United Methodist Church has had a relationship with Reeves dating back to at least 2001, when he and his wife Elee were married at the church. On its website, Galloway calls itself "God's hands and feet in downtown Jackson." It prides itself on taking a stand for civil rights in the Sixties, which cost the church half of its membership at the time. The United Methodist Church itself asserts that "every annual conference, district, and local church should be engaged, intentionally, in being an anti-racist church, not merely on paper, but in action." As of 2019, 31,154 Asian people lived in Mississippi.

9.30.21. During a day-long panel on racial justice, the online moderators repeatedly censored my questions about Galloway's plans to hold its most powerful member accountable. (See this newsletter update for further details.) This response sadly typifies the attitude of so many mainline, "progressive" churches. I will update the public with next steps concerning addressing Galloway's denomination, the United Methodist Church (also home to Tom Cotton and Dan Crenshaw).

4.20.21. Elected to office in November 2020, Marjorie Taylor-Greene (R-GA) is a "Starting Point Leader and Volunteer" at North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, GA. In a subsequently deleted video, Taylor-Greene discussed her testimony during her baptism at the church. She has frequently discussed the importance of her Christian faith and its centrality to her conservative politics. Before her election (and at least once after being elected), Taylor-Greene was a prolific user of the "Chinese Virus"/"China Virus" slur, sometimes tweeting it twice in the same day. When Alyssa Milano objected to Trump's use of the term, Taylor-Greene mocked her concerns, saying, "Everybody knows this virus started in China . . . Maybe we can call it the "Chicomm Virus," if that makes you feel better." Before her debate with competitor John Cowan on 7.13.20, Greene mocked him as "anti-gun Wuhan [John]."

Taylor-Greene's particular blend of religiosity and anti-Chinese sentiment is encapsulated in an ad she posted on 4.18.20, which decries "fines for drive-in church" as an example of creeping "Chinese- style socialism" in America, over images of a CCP meeting hall, with Chinese characters prominently displayed. The ad also includes an image of the Chinese flag covering the field-of-stars on the American flag. It ends with her declaration, "To save America, stop socialism, and stop China." China is thus figured as an invading force specifically menacing churchgoing Americans.

Taylor-Greene's conflation of Chinese individuals with the Chinese state is also evident in her 12.19.20 tweet accusing Rep. Eric Swalwell of sleeping with a Chinese spy: "We all know you chose to sleep with China."

On 1.20.21, shortly after President Biden's inauguration, Taylor-Greene declared, "Communist China has their president . . . China Joe."

Prior to her political career, Taylor-Greene claimed that white males were the most oppressed group in America today and promoted QAnon conspiracy theories, particularly its anti-Semitic threads. Her support for conspiracy theories about voter fraud during the 2020 has been condemned as contributing to the Jan. 2021 Capitol riots. Right wing activist Anthony Aguero, whom Taylor-Greene has called "one of [her] closest friends," admitted to participating in the Jan. 6 riots.

North Point Community Church is a non-denominational Evangelical church headed by senior pastor Andy Stanley. As of 2020, it boasted a weekly attendance average of 38,589 people. Its website does not feature a statement about racism. However, Stanley has tweeted, "When it comes to racism, there is no room for complacency." He has also promoted what he called "a candid conversation about race, racism, and faith" with Black Christian musical artists Joseph Sojourner and Sam Collier.

With respect to leadership qualifications (such as those of Starting Point leaders), North Point's FAQ page states, "Each leadership application will include questions around the person’s spiritual background, leadership background, and, for many ministries, a certified background check." It also states that leaders must demonstrate "a willingness to be held accountable to their church leadership regarding matters concerning [their] relationship with God and others."

In March 2021, her state witnessed the Atlanta spa massacre, in which a Southern Baptist affiliated killer targeted Asian women working at spas in the area. The "sex addiction" treatment facility where the killer spent time as a patient, HopeQuest, is affiliated with North Point. Taylor-Greene did not issue any statement about the shooting.