Want to create an interactive transcript for this episode?
Podcast: Premium Ad-Free: Straight White American Jesus
Episode: No Kings: The Dangerous Lie That America’s President Was Meant to Be a Monarch
Description: This episode of Straight White American Jesus features Brad Onishi unpacking a central claim gaining traction on the political and religious right: that the American presidency was always meant to function like a monarchy. In light of the nationwide “No Kings” protests, Onishi challenges arguments from figures like Michael Knowles and Adrian Vermeule, who suggest that the founders embedded a “kingly” executive into the Constitution. He traces how thinkers drawing on Thomas Aquinas use the language of the “common good” to justify stronger, more centralized authority—potentially at the expense of democratic participation and individual rights.
The episode ultima...