'Amen': This Christian prayer app is giving users 'permission to ignore' Trump’s 'horrors'
President Donald Trump in front of St. John's Episcopal Church in Washington, DC on June 1, 2020 (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead/Flickr)
Gen-X superstar Gwen Stefani, famous for her decades as lead singer for No Doubt as well as solo hits like "Hollaback Girl" and "Harajuku Girls," inspired a lot of political debates when, in December 2024, she endorsed Hallow — a Christian prayer app also promoted by comedian Russell Brand (now a MAGA supporter) and some pro-Donald Trump tech bros.
After Stefani's Hallow endorsement appeared on Instagram, quite a few social media users wondered if she had "gone MAGA" — especially when she posted a video of former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
In an article published by on April 18, Salon's Amanda Marcotte — a self-described "atheist" — details her use of Hallow, which she explored for journalistic purposes. And Marcotte stresses that while Hallow doesn't promote Christianity in an abrasive, in-your-face way, the MAGA connection is there nonetheless.
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"In the advertising," Marcotte explains, "the Hallow app seems bland enough…. But the whiff of MAGA isn't too hard to detect, for someone who knows what they're sniffing for. Early funding came largely from Donald Trump fanboys Peter Thiel and JD Vance, the latter now serving as Trump's vice president. Celebrity endorsements and collaborations include Trump's buddy Mark Wahlberg, anti-abortion actor Jonathan Roumie, and Chris Pratt, whose efforts to hide his MAGA leanings always fall short. "
Marcotte adds, "The app also recruited washed-up British comedian Russell Brand, but they are putting that endorsement deal on pause now that he's been legally charged with rape in his home country."
The Salon journalist stresses that although she's an "atheist," she doesn't knock Christianity — as she knows a lot of "good liberal Christians." But Marcotte criticizes Hallow for being a "sedative to dull the consciences of MAGA."
"At first," Marcotte notes, "Hallow didn't seem so bad ….. Not that there was no political propaganda on Hallow. As a feminist, I couldn't help but listen to a 9-part series labeled 'Feminine Genius' by a woman named Lisa Cotter. My hopes for the accomplishments of Emily Dickinson and Marie Curie — hell, even Gwen Stefani! — quickly went up in smoke. Instead, I got scolded about how I should stop trying to 'act like a man,' and that women's 'gifts' and 'genius' are — surprise! — about the ability to 'generously live for others.'"
Hallow, Marcotte laments, fits into "the larger universe of Vance and Thiel's project to shove their retrograde gender politics on Americans through every avenue they can find, from apps discouraging contraception to calling single women 'miserable cat ladies' at every turn."
"The Hallow app is right-wing propaganda, but not in the hammer-to-the-face way you get from Breitbart or Fox News," Marcotte observes. "Instead, it's a warm bath of permission to ignore the horrors being unleashed by an administration boosted by the people who funded this app, and all offered in Jesus' name, amen."
Amanda Marcotte's full article for Salon is available at this link.
