Marjorie Taylor Greene and the Lingering Belief That Truth Is Partisan

In an analysis for The Washington Post, Philip Bump examines an interaction between Jan. 6th participant Paul Hodgkins and Alexandra Pelosi (daughter of Rep. Nancy Pelosi) captured in a new documentary filmed and directed by Pelosi. Sharing the footage of Pelosi questioning Hodgkins’s choice to continue watching far-right news, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene praised his loyalty to conservative news outlets. PRRI data shows that peoples’ choice of media outlet mirrors their politics; while only 16% of Americans “completely” agree that the 2020 election was stolen, that percentage is 71% among those who most trust far-right outlets. By characterizing the media as politically biased, Bump writes, Republicans are reinforcing the idea that the feud over the validity of the 2020 election is between partisan worldviews instead of a rejection of reality.

Justice Barrett Calls for Supreme Court To Adopt an Ethics Code

Abbie VanSickle for The New York Times reports that during a public event at the University of Minnesota Law School, Justice Amy Coney Barrett said that she favored an ethics code for the Supreme Court. Stating that all justices are committed to the highest standards of ethical conduct, she said she could not speak for the court on a timeline, or precisely what such a code might look like. During the event, students were escorted out after shouting and displaying signs protesting the overturn of Roe V. Wade. Last year, PRRI found that two-thirds of young Americans ages 18–29 (68%) oppose the overturn of Roe, including nearly half (49%) who strongly oppose the decision.

U.S. Government Agrees to Settlement With Migrant Families Separated at the Border

For NPR, Jasmine Garsd reports that the U.S. government has reached a settlement deal with migrant families who were forced apart at the southern border as a result of the Trump administration’s “zero-tolerance” policy. More than 5,000 families were separated after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border; the youngest child separated from their family  was only six months old. The deal would provide work authorization, housing benefits, and access to mental health resources to the families and also bar immigration officials from imposing a family separation policy for the next eight years. Up to 1,000 children still have not been reunified with their parents, and the settlement stipulates that the government will continue to pay to reunify those families.

Florida Faith Leader: Black History Toolkit Gains Interest Outside the State

At Religion News Service, Adelle M. Banks interviews Rev. Rhonda Thomas, a pastor and community organizer with Faith in Florida, who created a toolkit to help teach Black history outside the public school system after Florida legislators restricted the teaching of history in the state. So far, Thomas’ resources have been used by congregations of other races and across faith traditions in more than 20 other states. PRRI finds that while vast majorities of all religious groups support efforts to tell the truth about the history of slavery, violence, and discrimination against racial minorities, support for efforts to repair the damage done by past violence or discrimination against racial minorities tends to be lower among white Christians.

What’s Buzzing?

Read PRRI’s full report “Clergy and Congregations in a Time of Transformation: Findings from the 2022-2023 Mainline Protestant Clergy Survey” here.