CNN doc links ‘Christian nationalism’ to Kirk assassination, warns of classical Christian schools

CNN has been repeatedly teasing an hour-long documentary this week about so-called Christian nationalism set to air Sunday on the network, which has prompted pushback for appearing to link an alleged rise in the ideology to Charlie Kirk’s assassination last fall and warning about the influence of classical Christian schools.

In multiple preview clips that have aired in recent days, CNN anchor and chief investigative correspondent Pamela Brown promoted “The Rise of Christian Nationalism,” which she claimed was a “special project” that took her several months. The documentary aims to examine what she defined as “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.”

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.

She then launches into a report where she fears the assassination of Charlie Kirk uniting Christians and scoffs… pic.twitter.com/1J63ta6EIO

— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) February 17, 2026

Brown claimed “experts” in Christian nationalism asserted to her that Kirk’s murder last September “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.”

One of the experts included Matthew Taylor, visiting scholar at the Georgetown University Center of Faith and Justice, who claimed that Kirk’s memorial, which was attended by President Donald Trump and other prominent political figures, “radicalized” many American Christians into believing they increasingly face hostility in their own country.

“The memorial 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 Christians’ rights,” he said.

In another clip, Brown claimed that while Trump “has never explicitly said he believes the country should be a Christian nation,” 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.”

Andrew Kolvet, a spokesperson at Kirk’s Turning Point USA, replied to Brown’s promotional earlier this week by suggesting the true radicalism is coming from the political left and was made manifest by the actions of Kirk’s alleged assassin, Tyler Robinson.

Robinson allegedly had ties to Antifa and was in a relationship with a transgender-identifying “furry.”

“Consider this: so CNN does a piece — talking about the radicalization of people at Charlie’s memorial,” Kolvet said. “Charlie was assassinated by a radical, by somebody that was animated, at least in part, by his love affair with somebody that was trans. And instead of burning down the country, like the real radicals did, we held vigils and memorials, and people bought Bibles, and they got baptized.”

“How is that a bad thing? What are we even talking about here?” Kolvet asked.

CNN BACKLASH IS MOUNTING: They just announced a documentary covering the “rise of Christian Nationalism” in America, and it’s not going how they expected it to go.@AndrewKolvet let the TRUTH about America’s spiritual revival and the role Charlie Kirk has in it:

“Consider this:… https://t.co/moi2PwF17cpic.twitter.com/isO2nt4bHi

— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) February 17, 2026

During another promotional for her documentary that aired Friday, Brown also went after classical Christian schools, showing a clip of her interview with David Goodwin, who wrote a book with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth in 2022 and serves as the president of the Association of Classical Christian Schools (ACCS).

Goodwin confirmed to Brown that the goal of the ACCS is to promote “Christian civilization,” and that they “are glad” when their graduates ascend to positions of political power and cultural influence. He applauded the dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education and expressed hope that the public school system would go away.

The ACCS has ties to the Rev. Douglas Wilson, who pastors Christ Church (CREC) in Moscow, Idaho, and drew scorn for participating in a prayer service with Hegseth at the Pentagon earlier this week.

CNN’s Pamela Brown continued to bash Christian schools during Friday’s The Situation Room. She tried to paint people who went/are attending Christian schools as something akin to Manchurian candidates pumped out by the schools with aims to fill positions of power in the U.S. and… pic.twitter.com/QtDNemUlVR

— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) February 20, 2026