Actor Alan Ritchson has sparked debate with his candid commentary about former President Donald Trump and Christians who support him, a significant portion of his fan base. Ritchson, the star of the Amazon series Reacher, based on the novels about a tough military investigator, made headlines with his remarks in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
Ritchson’s online presence includes a volunteer series called InstaChurch, where he discusses scripture and its relevance to daily life and his acting career. Despite his openness about his faith, he expressed concerns that speaking freely about religion could affect his career in Hollywood. Nonetheless, he chose to share his perspective as a Christian committed to following Jesus’ call to love others selflessly.
Ritchson voiced his frustration with the alignment of some Christians with Trump, whom he referred to as “a rapist and a con man.” He finds it contradictory to the teachings of Jesus that the Christian community treats Trump as a poster child. His strong criticism extends to the Catholic Church, expressing his inability to support it due to ongoing issues of abuse being covered up and lack of accountability.
No matter how busy he remains in paid acting gigs, he’s finding time to stay on camera for a volunteer hobby he calls InstaChurch, a video series he posts on Instagram and a dedicated YouTube channel. Before he started posting the freewheeling clips, which find Ritchson exploring scripture and how it relates to daily life and his work as an actor, he warned his wife. “I told her that it could be the last time I worked in this business,” he explains of worries that he would be shunned in Hollywood for speaking so openly about religion and faith. But he couldn’t help himself. “I’m a Christian quite simply because of what Jesus calls us to do. Love other people until death. It doesn’t mean we’re all to be hung on a cross, but how can I suffer for you? That is a beautiful thing.”
That simple message, he says, has become twisted in today’s fraught political landscape. “Christians today have become the most vitriolic tribe. It is so antithetical to what Jesus was calling us to be and to do,” he explains. It also upsets him that some Christians have so closely aligned with former President Donald Trump. “Trump is a rapist and a con man, and yet the entire Christian church seems to be treat him like he’s their poster child and it’s unreal. I don’t understand it.” His mother remains staunchly Catholic, but he quickly swats away any associations. “It’s worth saying that the atrocities that are happening in the church that are being actively covered up, even to this day with people not being held accountable, is repulsive,” he says, as the tenor of his voice changes. “I can’t for one second support the Catholic Church while there are still cardinals, bishops and priests being passed around with known pedophilic tendencies.”
Although Trump was not found guilty in criminal court, he was held liable for sexual abuse in a civil case. Judge Lewis Kaplan described Trump’s actions as fitting the common understanding of “rape,” despite the legal distinction.
