Why JD Vance is talking about demons right now

When Vice President JD Vance was asked about aliens, he couldn’t resist steering the conversation toward demons and religion. This demon talk goes beyond his personal faith, it points to a broader strategy within MAGA to energize the Christian right. By leaning into dark, supernatural themes, right-wing influencers are trying to tap into curiosity about the diabolical as a way to draw in younger audiences. In this episode, I show why this good vs. evil strategy is doomed to fail and point to data that shows there is no religious revival happening. My guest this week is Taylor Leigh. She’s an ex-evangelical and practicing Satanist. Watch her channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@theantibot Subscribe here on YouTube for more Standing Room Only, airing weekly Thursdays at 5 PM ET on YouTube. 🥳 Standing Room Only started as a newsletter. Join the party and get it in your inbox 2x a week by clicking here: https://www.salon.com/newsletter 🤓 Read Amanda Marcotte's writing on Salon.com here: https://www.salon.com/writer/amanda_marcotte 👍 Follow Amanda on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/amandamarcotte.bsky.social ✌️ Support Salon’s mission—become a member: https://www.salon.com/premium?utm_source=youtube-sro&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=become-a-member-ytsro 🎵 Like our Encore segment? Follow the Standing Room Only Playlist on Spotify to hear the full songs and more recommendations from Amanda: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5xGJv3dQ8BPbO2gMw53dvB JD Vance demons, JD Vance aliens, satanic panic politics, religious revival, catholic revival, Girls Gone Bible critique, political commentary, Charlie Kirk critique, Christian right politics