Overview: Sarah Trone Garriott, a state senator and Lutheran minister running for Congress in Iowa's 3rd District, told a 2023 Methodist church audience that public Christian displays have increasingly appeared alongside political violence. She cited examples including a Pledge-related sign, imagery at a Trump rally, and scenes from Jan. 6. Trone Garriott criticized certain parental-rights and private-school movements as having roots in racist resistance to integration. Rep. Zach Nunn condemned her remarks while the DCCC defended her and reiterated her condemnation of political violence.
2023 Church Speech: Iowa Democratic Candidate Linked Public Christian Displays to Political Violence
Battleground Dem candidate linked public displays of faith to political violence in 2023 speech
A Democratic candidate campaigning for a competitive U.S. House seat in southwestern Iowa drew a link between public Christian displays and political violence during a 2023 address at a Methodist church, according to unearthed audio reviewed by Fox News Digital.
Sarah Trone Garriott, a state senator and ordained Lutheran minister, is running to unseat Rep. Zach Nunn (R-Iowa) in the November midterm election. In the speech, she warned congregants that religion and political violence have been appearing together more frequently in public spaces and described that trend as alarming.
"We have seen religion and political violence showing up more and more in our public spaces. It's something that is just very in our faces and something that we're very concerned about, and something that feels very threatening right now at this time." — Sarah Trone Garriott
Trone Garriott told the audience that discussing religion and politics together can be appropriate and affirmed the value of living out one’s faith in community. However, she repeatedly said she felt uneasy about some public Christian displays and suggested they should be challenged when they appear to merge religious symbolism with political power.
Rev. Sarah Trone Garriott, a Lutheran pastor and former Iowa state senator, warned against a rise in public displays of faith in a 2023 speech.(AP Newsroom)
Examples Cited
She cited an image of a woman holding a sign invoking the Pledge of Allegiance phrase "one nation under God, indivisible," Christian imagery observed at a rally for former President Donald Trump, and displays seen during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol as examples of faith and political power colliding.
Policy Context
As a state senator, Trone Garriott said she intentionally sought opening prayers that were not limited to the "White American Christian variety," inviting atheist, secular and non-Christian perspectives. She also criticized certain parental-rights and private Christian school movements, arguing they have historical roots in racist opposition to school integration when some parents sought separate, predominantly White educational enclaves.
She linked that history to contemporary debates over bills aimed at barring biological males from women's sports and restricting what children may access in school libraries, saying those measures are often framed as protecting women and are sometimes presented by men claiming a protective role.
Rep. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, sharply criticized Democratic candidate Sarah Trone Garriott's remarks, arguing she does not embody the values of the constituents she's seeking to represent.
Reactions
Rep. Zach Nunn condemned the resurfaced remarks, saying Trone Garriott "can't walk into a church without delivering a lecture about how their faith is threatening and their schools are racist." The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee defended Trone Garriott, noting her background as a hospital chaplain and parish pastor and saying she has consistently condemned political violence.
The nonpartisan Cook Political Report currently lists the Republican-held 3rd District seat as a "toss-up."
Source: Audio reviewed by Fox News Digital; comments quoted from Trone Garriott and statements from Rep. Zach Nunn and the DCCC.
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