During Tuesday’s The Situation Room, co-anchor Pamela Brown teased her new documentary on the rise of ‘Christian Nationalism’ in which she correlated the Assassination of Charlie Kirk as a turning point that ‘unified’ the group with the Trump Administration. She portrayed the situation as a brewing threat to the country, complete with ominous soundtrack.
In Brown’s lead to the short four-minute tease of the full documentary, she described ‘Christian Nationalism’ in a way where she seems to frame some Christians as a threat after the Kirk Assassination:
Well for the past several months, I've been working on a special project examining the growing influence of Christian nationalism in America. If you're not familiar, Christian nationalism is an ideology rooted in the belief that our country was founded as a Christian nation and that our laws and institutions should reflect Christian values. In the lead up to my hour long documentary this weekend, we're going to bring you a preview of what you'll see. Starting off with the Assassination of Charlie Kirk last year. Experts say it was a pivotal moment for the movement and an occasion where the tragedy of his loss unified Christian nationalists and the Trump administration as they honored him.
CNN's Pamela Brown announces she's been working on a "special project" warn against "Christian nationalism" and portrays them as a radicalized threat to the country.
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) February 17, 2026
She then launches into a report where she fears the assassination of Charlie Kirk uniting Christians and scoffs… pic.twitter.com/1J63ta6EIO
The tease segment started with the scene from Charlie Kirk’s funeral. Brown showed clips of President Trump at the funeral, along with Erika Kirk’s forgiveness of her husband’s killer.
Brown then portrayed the event as a “call to action.”
“Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and prominent Christian nationalist, was assassinated. It became a rallying call for those who believed in his message,” she said. She displayed a clip of Hegseth’s message for those to “put Christ at the center of your life as he advocated for giving his” as a sort of radical message for Christian nationalists.
The tease for Brown' "special project" to demonize American Christians continued with her expressing fear that "Kirk's death happened at a moment of unprecedented alignment between Christian nationalists and the Trump administration."
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) February 17, 2026
Taylor decried that Trump administration… pic.twitter.com/uvirf6k3Lu
The main “expert” on ‘Christian Nationalism’ Brown spoke to was Matthew Taylor, a Georgetown University visiting scholar, who portrayed the group as dangerous radicals with a martyr complex:
Memorial service was one of the most potent examples of this shift in our culture that we're experiencing right now, where a large segment of American Christians are being activated by these ideas, radicalized by these ideas that say that they are the persecuted ones and that they need to stand up for Christian’s rights.
Brown then interviewed someone she portrayed as a ‘Christian nationalist,’ who stated that "political leaders proclaiming the name of Christ at his funeral” was “amazing.”
Brown and Taylor connected ‘Christian nationalists’ to the Trump administration, especially after the assassination attempts of Trump and Kirk, and frowned on the idea that Christians deserved any kind of protection:
TAYLOR: Part of the shift that we've experienced in the second Trump Administration is a dropping of all pretenses to say: “No, we're here. We're protecting Christians.”
TRUMP: We will protect Christians in our schools and our military and our government.
BROWN: Trump has never explicitly said he believes the country should be a Christian nation, but he is aligned with Christian nationalists and wants their support. And after an assassination attempt during his campaign, Trump said he believes God saved his life so he can lead the country.
TRUMP: My life was saved for a reason. I was saved by God to Make America Great Again.
At the end of the segment in conversation, Brown also teased interviews with people who were “sounding the alarm” on ‘Christian nationalism.’
Brown seemed very keen on portraying Christians as radical nationalists in her documentary. It was a choice to portray those at a funeral of a prominent activist as radical Christians.
The connection of Kirk’s assassination to ‘Christian nationalism’ might just prove the opinion of many on the right that many of the Left turn to fearmongering to portray those with faith as radical nationalists.
The transcript is below. Click to expand:
CNN’s The Situation Room
February 17, 2026
10:27:43 AM Eastern
PAMELA BROWN: Well for the past several months, I've been working on a special project examining the growing influence of Christian nationalism in America. If you're not familiar, Christian nationalism is an ideology rooted in the belief that our country was founded as a Christian nation and that our laws and institutions should reflect Christian values. In the lead up to my hour-long documentary this weekend, we're going to bring you a preview of what you'll see. Starting off with the Assassination of Charlie Kirk last year. Experts say it was a pivotal moment for the movement and an occasion where the tragedy of his loss unified Christian nationalists and the Trump administration as they honored him.
[Cuts to video]
BROWN: September 21st, 2025.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: America is a nation in grief, a nation in shock, and a nation in mourning. Charles James Kirk was heinously murdered.
ERIKA KIRK: That young man. I forgive him.
BROWN: Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and prominent Christian nationalist, was assassinated. It became a rallying call for those who believed in his message.
TRUMP: Our greatest evangelist for American liberty became immortal.
BROWN: And it was a call to action.
PETE HEGSETH: My charge to all of you: put Christ at the center of your life as he advocated for giving his.
MATTHEW TAYLOR (Georgetown University Visiting Scholar): Memorial service was one of the most potent examples of this shift in our culture that we're experiencing right now, where a large segment of American Christians are being activated by these ideas, radicalized by these ideas that say that they are the persecuted ones and that they need to stand up for Christian’s rights.
ANDREW MCILWAIN (Member, Christ Fellowship Church): The way we had all these political leaders proclaiming the name of Christ at his funeral, it was amazing.
BROWN: Do you think it marked a turning point for -
MCILWAIN: For America?
BROWN: For your mission and for America.
MCILWAIN: With the rise of interest in Christianity, I think there's a sense that this way of life, the way America has been heading, that's not the answer. Well, where is the answer? Well we find that answer in scripture in Christ.
BROWN: Kirk's death happened at a moment of unprecedented alignment between Christian nationalists and the Trump administration.
TAYLOR: Part of the shift that we've experienced in the second Trump Administration is a dropping of all pretenses to say: “No, we're here. We're protecting Christians.”
TRUMP: We will protect Christians in our schools and our military and our government.
BROWN: Trump has never explicitly said he believes the country should be a Christian nation, but he is aligned with Christian nationalists and wants their support. And after an assassination attempt during his campaign, Trump said he believes God saved his life so he can lead the country.
TRUMP: My life was saved for a reason. I was saved by God to Make America Great Again.
TAYLOR: Many Christians who, especially evangelical Christians, who had previously said, I don't believe in these prophecies, came around because the assassination attempts. And believed that that his survival was the hand of divine providence, a sign of God's favor. He's an anointed figure that God has put in this place.
[Cuts back to live]
BROWN: So this is just one example of why Christian nationalists are having such a moment right now. In fact that Christian scholar you heard from told me that its influence could be at the highest point it's ever been throughout American history.
And starting tomorrow, I'll take you to the communities I visited that are either actively practicing what it means to embody Christian nationalism in their daily lives, or those who used to belong to these groups but have left and are now sounding the alarm.
You can watch my documentary on the Whole Story with Anderson Cooper this Sunday, February 22nd at 8 P.M. on CNN, or the next day on CNN's all access streaming platform.
WOLF BLITZER: And I'll be looking forward to it. I'll be watching, like millions of others.
BROWN: I hope you will. It’s important, no matter what you believe or where you live. This is an important moment in our country.
BLITZER: I’m grateful to you for doing this.
BROWN: Thank you, Wolf.
