Those gleeful over the firing of Kristi Noem as U.S. secretary of Homeland Security should understand the senator nominated to succeed her is every bit a Christian nationalist, warns a native Oklahoman who leads a national network of progressive Christians.
Shannon Fleck
“There will be no difference,” said Shannon Fleck, executive director of Faithful America. “We’re not getting a better secretary here. This is not a better person.”
While some observers of Markwayne Mullin’s confirmation hearing before the U.S. Senate March 18 noted softer tones and more nuanced responses than Noem was known for, the bottom line is that Mullin remains a far-right Christian nationalist, Fleck warned.
Earlier, Mullin had called Alex Pretti, the man shot dead by ICE agents in Minneapolis, a “deranged individual that came in to cause max damage” — a false characterization.
The New York Times reported that Mullin said in the hearing he regretted that statement.
“As he worked to win confirmation, Mr. Mullin’s attitude toward his fellow senators appeared aimed at setting him apart from the combativeness of Kristi Noem, the Homeland Security secretary he would replace,” the Times said. “Her appearances on Capitol Hill were marked by sparring with lawmakers as she defended her militant approach to immigration enforcement and recently refused to apologize for her characterization of Mr. Pretti as a domestic terrorist.
“Mr. Mullin’s softer tone was also in line with a broader shift underway among Republicans in how they talk about immigration enforcement. Some have acknowledged that Mr. Trump’s aggressive language and tactics on immigration, which they have backed almost without qualification, have cost their party support with voters, imperiling their already dim prospects for keeping control of Congress in November’s midterm elections.”
Then the paper of record explained: “It is unclear whether Mr. Mullin’s gentler posture will hold if he is confirmed. Many cabinet officials have backtracked on commitments they made to senators during their confirmation hearings once they take up their positions and are more focused on keeping Mr. Trump happy.”
Fleck has no doubt about how to answer that question.
She led an organization called the Oklahoma Faith Network for eight years and then has been leading Faithful America for the last year. From both perches, she has watched Mullin and knows those he runs with.
Markwayne Mullin speaks at a City Elders gathering in Tulsa, Okla. (Screencap)
Chief among that network is a far-right group in Tulsa called City Elders.
As BNG previously reported, City Elders describes itself as “a national network of elders charged with the mission of governing the gates of every city in America to establish the kingdom of God with strength, honor and courage.”
Although not really a church, the group has IRS status as a church.
There is no way to know exactly how much influence the group has or how many inroads it already has made because its “elders” are not typically identified.
The group, led by Pentecostal evangelist Jesse Leon Rodgers, sees its mission as biblical — drawing especially from Old Testament narratives of God’s commands to Adam and Eve and God’s commands to other kings and prophets of the Hebrew people. These modern-day zealots take Old Testament passages as direct literal mandates for their intent to take over city councils, school boards, state government and even federal government.
A video from 2023 shows Mullin speaking to the group and explaining his close and longstanding relationship with City Elders and Rodgers.
In Oklahoma, City Elders works closely with Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee, Fleck said. Together, these groups push for Christian nationalist policies from the state’s two largest cities, Oklahoma City and Tulsa.
In a state that is full of Southern Baptists — about 20% of Oklahomans are Southern Baptist — and that is reliably red in voting — 66% voted for Donald Trump in 2024 — the tenets of Christian nationalism often go unnoticed, Fleck said. She predicts Mullin will continue to advance that form of far-right political theism from the Department of Homeland Security.
And anyone who thought his confirmation hearing answers were tame should remember his track record, she added.
He didn’t deny that he would send armed officials to polling stations, she said. “He did not certify the 2020 election, would not say who won that election. And when, at least for me, you put that mentality alongside white Christian nationalism, it becomes very alarming, very quickly. … He also didn’t apologize for some of the pretty blunt, incorrect and violent rhetoric that he has put out in the world.”
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