Published: April 8, 2026 8:24 pm
Author: RT
The US president’s rhetoric is unbecoming of a world leader while the West continues to turn a blind eye to Israeli crimes in Gaza and beyond, Tadhg Hickey has said
The administration of US President Donald Trump is “weaponizing Christianity” to justify its actions in the Middle East, while Israel continues to act with impunity as much of the West turns a blind eye, Irish activist and satirist Tadhg Hickey has said.
Appearing on RT’s East Meets West show, hosted by Tara Reade and Olga Bataman, Hickey described it as ironic that Trump and other officials in his administration have invoked biblical messaging in their public statements on the war against Iran, when in reality their actions are “going further and further away from what Christ’s teachings were.”
“It’s a weaponizing of Christianity that I find really appalling. It’s really vulgar this idea that Jesus is this kind of agent of war for these people, and there’s nothing Christian about their values or their behaviour,” Hickey said.
He described Israel as acting with total impunity in Gaza and elsewhere, and attempting to “get away with as much as they can” while Trump is in the White House, safe in the knowledge that they will face no resistance from Washington or the broader West.
Hickey also described “Christian Zionism” in the US as “the most voracious aspect” supporting Israel’s actions, while the Jewish state has been adept at creating a “Trump 2.0 monster” and ensuring complicity from Washington.
Hickey also discussed his experience of being detained in Israel after attempting to deliver aid to Gaza as part of the Freedom Flotilla in 2025.
“We were abducted in international waters, brought to a terrorist prison… put into prisoner garb, denied medical attention, no access to lawyers, no yard time. There was a 75-year-old Irish guy, he was denied access to his insulin… it was a miracle he survived. I don’t think they actually would have tried to kill one of us, but if one of us had died in one their cells, that would have been a big bonus [for them], because it would have been a deterrent for people going again,” the activist said.
Watch the full episode with Hickey below.
