Democratic congressional candidate Sarah Trone Garriott, an Iowa state legislator and minister, contributed to a 2018 book that encouraged faith leaders to use their pulpits to resist then-President Donald Trump and his supporters. The book, titled "Preaching as Resistance: Voices of Hope, Justice, and Solidarity," was published in the wake of Trump's 2016 election victory, which the collection's introduction described as bringing the country "so closely to fascism."
Trone Garriott authored a chapter titled "The Gospel of Resistance," which she has described as the first sermon she delivered after the 2016 election. This contribution has not been previously reported. In the chapter, Trone Garriott appears to encourage listeners who were disillusioned by recent events, without explicitly naming Trump's election. She discusses periods when Christians felt detachment throughout history and refers to a passage in Matthew 24:36-44, where Christ tells believers to remain ready.
"Preaching as Resistance" features 30 sermons with titles such as "Transgressing the Gender Binary," "Encountering Pharaoh — and Climate Change," and "Wake Up and Stay Woke!" The sermons address criticisms of Trump, immigration enforcement, deportation policies, transphobia, and what one author terms "the worship of military-grade weaponry among the populace."
One minister urges sanctuary cities to defy the federal government and harbor undocumented immigrants to avoid deportation, while another sermon associates police departments with "White supremacy." The book's introduction states that "pastors of the resistance" were working against a coalition rooted in "White supremacy," "exploitation," "greed," and "heteropatriarchy."
Trone Garriott is running in one of the nation's most competitive House races. The contest for Iowa's 1st Congressional District, currently held by Republican Rep. Zach Nunn, is rated a "toss-up" by The Cook Political Report. Trump won the district by over four points in 2024.
Republicans have intensified scrutiny of Trone Garriott's past remarks on religion and cultural issues. The Republican National Committee (RNC) criticized her participation in the "resistance" preaching collection. RNC spokesman Zach Kraft stated, "The Wicked Witch of the Woke strikes again and admits what we all knew — she views the pulpit as a political weapon to advance her radical agenda."
Trone Garriott previously discussed as a minister-in-training helping to marry a Satanist couple. She also defended a Wiccan-led prayer in the state legislature and, in a 2023 sermon, tied public displays of Christianity to political violence. During that talk, she criticized private schools and parental rights in education while highlighting her efforts to seek prayers in the state legislature that were not from the "White American Christian variety."
Trone Garriott did not respond to requests for comment regarding her contribution to the book or her agreement with its characterization of Trump and his voters. The book's publisher described the sermon collection as "provocative."