Kiera Butler
@kieraevebutler.bsky.social
National Correspondent for Mother Jones. Extremism etc. https://www.motherjones.com/author/kiera-butler/ Tips: kbutlermotherjones@proton.me
This is the guy in charge of overhauling the Pentagon's security clearance program. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Oh look, another far-right extremist at the Pentagon
He oversees defense intelligence and security agencies and helps shape military operations.
motherjones.com
I wrote about this guy, who also has kindly offered to help with a new project that aims to connect “talented young Christians” to “the institutions that shape public thought and national leadership.” www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Oh look, another far-right extremist at the Pentagon
He oversees defense intelligence and security agencies and helps shape military operations.
motherjones.com
Unable to find a smoking gun in Fauci's diary, conspiracy theorists are getting, uh, creative www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Covid truthers are claiming Fauci’s diary was “scrubbed”
Because of course they are.
motherjones.com
I wrote about the inevitable conspiracy theories being spun up around Fauci's diary. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Covid truthers are claiming Fauci’s diary was “scrubbed”
Because of course they are.
motherjones.com
Ugh this story is so grim and @annamerlan.bsky.social does a masterful job telling it
Anna Merlan @annamerlan.bsky.social · last wk.This is an unusually detailed look at how the anti-vaccine movement involves itself into the life of a family, and a criminal case. As I wrote about in the piece, this is not the first time; @kieraevebutler.bsky.social covered a similar story in Texas. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
I wrote about Hegseth's weird new testosterone thing and how it fits in with his whole extremely online and Christian nationalist obsession with masculinity and lethality www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
The manosphere and Christian Nationalist roots of Hegseth’s “Low-T” fixation
"We're keeping you on the leading edge of lethality.”
motherjones.com
New from me: I wrote about the arrest of the far-left (as in, thinks Putin's a great guy) activist I profiled in 2024: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Meet the multi-millionaire pro-Hamas activist who was arrested in Spain
The DOJ has called for Fergie Chambers to be extradited on charges of international money laundering.
motherjones.com
A fun little scoop about the Christian nationalist-adjacent guy who just scored a recruitment contract with the State Department. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
The State Department's new recruiting contractor wants more Christian diplomats
"All of a sudden you're in a position where you can have a huge influence for the rest of your life on the US government.”
motherjones.com
In which Andrew Isker, part of the techno-utopia Appalachia crew I wrote about, argues that data centers will allow us to drink more raw milk:
The leader of this movement believes “Mass migration is biological warfare waged by secular globalist elites against the native Christian peoples of the West.” www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
The Southern Baptist Convention was going mainstream. Then the Christian nationalists weighed in.
The SBC appears to be making a significant course correction in the form of a sharp rightward tack.
motherjones.com
I wrote about a sea change in the country's largest protestant denomination. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
The Southern Baptist Convention was going mainstream. Then the Christian nationalists weighed in.
The SBC appears to be making a significant course correction in the form of a sharp rightward tack.
motherjones.com
New from me: A little context on the DOD Mormon dustup.
Here's what Pete Hegseth's religion believes about Mormons
“We would consider the Mormons to be a non-Christian faith with Christian terminology.”
motherjones.com
New from @revrobschenck.bsky.social: Arminian and Reformed evangelical Christians agree on few things—but increasingly, they’re both unhappy with Trump. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Can MAGA survive the great evangelical crack-up?
One of Trump’s most loyal voting blocs may be losing faith in him.
motherjones.com
Just a reminder that the guy behind Florida's antivax crusade is into levitating and communicating with spirits www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Florida is poised to make opting out of vaccines way easier
An eccentric surgeon general is behind a new bill to help parents exempt their children from immunizations.
motherjones.com
A lil bit proud of the hed/dek combo on today’s show with @kieraevebutler.bsky.social slate.com/podcasts/wha...
MAGA’s A.I. Schism
Ye, though I walk through the uncanny valley...
slate.com
New from me: Pete Hegseth's violent version of Christianity is even weirder than it seems www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Why Pete Hegseth's Tarantino blunder wasn't the least bit surprising
America's defense secretary is fixated on a fringe, violent version of Christian Nationalism.
motherjones.com
As an answer to the classic “What would Jesus do?” question, “start robot wars” would be an unconventional response, to put it mildly. And yet, here we are. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Tech billionaires want Christians to believe in AI
For Peter Thiel and JD Vance allies, the tech right is framing AI as a moral—even divine—mission.
motherjones.com
New from me: Tech bros have launched a campaign to convince Christians that AI is godly: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Tech billionaires want Christians to believe in AI
For Peter Thiel and JD Vance allies, the tech right is framing AI as a moral—even divine—mission.
motherjones.com
To me the most interesting part of reporting this story was learning more about the alliance that's emerging on the intellectual religious right, between Catholics and TheoBros. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Trump's Iran war is tearing apart his Catholic–Evangelical coalition
Once allies opposing abortion, gay marriage, and supporting Trump, the war broke them.
motherjones.com
I wrote about how the decades-old bond between Catholics and evangelicals is fraying (and the surprising new alliance could be replacing it) www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Trump's Iran War Is Tearing Apart His Catholic–Evangelical Coalition
Once allies opposing abortion, gay marriage, and supporting Trump, the war broke them.
motherjones.com
I wrote about the Christian Zionism that is quietly fueling the US attack on Iran. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Trump’s holy warriors finally got the apocalypse they’ve prayed for
Hundreds are dead. Iran is retaliating. And some of the people who helped start this war think it's going exactly as God intended.
motherjones.com
I wrote this last month explaining why some evangelical Christians have been hoping for war with Iran for a long time. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
The evangelicals who think Iran’s protests mean Jesus is returning
"Iran will be Christian."
motherjones.com
If you've ever wondered what kinds of nuclear companies the Trump administration has in mind to power all the AI data centers, I just wrote about one: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
The Trump administration’s favorite nuclear startup has ties to Russia and Epstein
Also, Christian nationalism.
motherjones.com
“Things got weird in Coeur d’Alene after the 2016 election. But then after the Covid-19 pandemic, shit went completely off the rails.” www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
How extremists reconquered Idaho in the age of Trump—and how some locals are fighting back
“Who the fuck are these men?”
motherjones.com
Yesterday Doug Wilson, TheoBro patriarch, preached at the Pentagon. Just a reminder that he's this guy. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
I'm writing about the rapid spread of Epstein-related misinformation. If you are in social media groups where people are making unsubstantiated claims and/or confusing documented communications with uncorroborated FBI tips, please DM me or reach out on email or Signal. Contact info in my bio. TY!
Me and @kieraevebutler.bsky.social have even MORE good news and it concerns exotic varieties of pseudoscience you may not have even known exist www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
RFK’s overhauled autism committee is even worse than it looks
Kennedy has stacked another HHS panel with his fellow travelers in the anti-vaccine and pseudoscience world.
motherjones.com
With @annamerlan.bsky.social I wrote about RFK Jr.'s new autism committee, which includes, among others, a person who writes about “the removal of religious exemptions to vaccine mandates” and what this “means for the Body of Christ.” www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
RFK’s overhauled autism committee is even worse than it looks
Kennedy has stacked another HHS panel with his fellow travelers in the anti-vaccine and pseudoscience world.
motherjones.com
