A series of videos produced by a Christian Nationalist media company have been embraced by the Trump White House.
The White House in July announced a partnership with PragerU, a firm founded by conservative talk-show host Dennis Prager to offer a “free alternative to the dominant left-wing ideology in culture, media, and education.”
During a launch event for its new Founders Museum exhibit, the White House introduced PragerU as its new official educational partner. As part of the new exhibit, PragerU created AI-generated videos of historical figures like John Adams delivering far-right talking points.
In its videos, PragerU — which is not a university — attacks separation of church and state and promotes discredited “Christian nation” views of America’s founding.
The partnership between the White House and PragerU comes at a time when Congress is severely cutting funding for media outlets like PBS and NPR. As Mariel Montero, AU’s public policy coordinator, noted on AU’s blog, “If you haven’t heard of PragerU, you’re probably not alone — but it’s time to pay attention. What began as a small YouTube channel promoting conservative views has grown into a sprawling far-right media network loved by Christian Nationalists, infusing its historically inaccurate propaganda into classrooms, teacher certification exams — and now the White House.”
PragerU has also been embraced by Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters, who has announced that teachers applying to Oklahoma schools from New York and California must take a new “America First” certification exam developed by PragerU. The test reportedly includes questions about religion and American history.
“You’re not gonna lie to kids about the influences Christianity had on American history,” Walters told the New York Post. “We want you to teach history appropriately.”
But as Montero noted, to Walters, teaching history “appropriately” means forcing schools to teach from the Bible, advocating for official prayer in public schools, fostering a dangerously anti-LGBTQ+ atmosphere, supporting the creation of what would be the nation’s first religious public charter school and trying to whitewash America’s history of racism and slavery.
Montero pointed out that in 2023, Walters posted PragerU materials on the state’s Education Department website after announcing a partnership with the group. A year later, he invited Dennis Prager and other conservative media personalities to help develop Oklahoma’s new social studies standards, which have since come under wide scrutiny for their overt Christian framing (and which AU is fighting in court).
PragerU videos are used in other states, including Florida, Louisiana and Texas. As Montero noted, “PragerU doesn’t just want to offer Christian Nationalist teachings in public classrooms — by partnering with government agencies, it now seeks to formalize its presence in our education system so that it becomes almost impossible to remove. PragerU’s new partnership with the current administration will only further politicize education.”
For more on PragerU and its Christian Nationalist agenda, see “Lackluster Video,” November 2023 Church & State.