MAGA Vanity and Advent Humility
Plus the latest writing from the Convocation team.
This week we discuss the explosive Vanity Fair article and accompanying photographs that reveal unflattering images of Trump administration officials, including Susie Wiles, Marco Rubio, and Karoline Leavitt. The photographer, Christopher Anderson, defended his work as authentic journalism rather than celebrity-style portraiture. The article and the backslash against it exposed the vanity and vulnerability of authoritarian regimes, who need to maintain the facade of power. We talk about how this vanity is at odds with the humility of Advent and how the White House and the Department of Homeland Security have distorted and defiled the message of Christmas to celebrate the cruelty of their mass deportation scheme. We close by highlighting a recent “Choose Love, Not ICE” ad—produced by Interfaith Alliance in partnership with Protect Democracy and set to the tune of “O Holy Night”—is pushing back.
You can watch the “Choose Love, not ICE” ad from Interfaith Alliance below.
An Announcement from Robby
I’m excited to announce the launch of a new monthly “Confronting White Christian Nationalism” segment, which I’ll be doing with Joy Reid throughout 2026 as we fight to protect our democracy from this threat. You can tune in LIVE on the 3rd Thursday of each month at 7pm ET. And if you’re a subscriber to my newsletter White Too Long, I’ll send the segment out the next day.
The Latest Writing from TCU Team
How You Can Support Our Work
Many of you have asked how you can support our work, especially in these challenging days. The Convocation Unscripted is FREE, but you can support us by becoming paid subscribers to our individual publications:
Suzie Wiles is called so capable but she is the great enabler of the fascist agenda. And zero guilt about that atrocity.
Great show yesterday as always! Nice to see you all in good humor too. Kristen's article today also referenced the photo essay. Year end thanks to all you've done this year (and wrote a book) for the rest of us. I wish you a joyful Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and many blessings.