Dr. Brahma Chellaney@Chellaney
As if seeking to pander to the MAGA movement’s religious base, Marco Rubio began his India tour with a visit to the Kolkata headquarters of the Missionaries of Charity. Mother Teresa is a canonized Catholic saint, meaning Rubio’s visit resonated both with his Catholic faith and among U.S. conservative Catholic voters he helps bring into the MAGA fold.
For years leading up to his appointment as secretary of state, Rubio frequently filled his personal Twitter/X feed with daily biblical passages, often without any political commentary. The practice drew significant attention. Secular organizations, including the Freedom From Religion Foundation, publicly criticized him for using a major public platform to promote religion, while some political commentators dubbed him the “Bible man.”
Rubio has emerged, alongside JD Vance, as a leading contender to succeed Trump as the MAGA movement’s principal figurehead and prospective heir to the White House. Both Vance and Rubio are Catholics. But while Vance has an interfaith family, Rubio (the son of Cuban immigrants) frames his faith in ways that overlap heavily with the Christian nationalist narrative underpinning the MAGA movement.
After his brief Kolkata stopover, Rubio reached New Delhi and held discussions with Modi that lasted for over an hour.
One issue that may have figured in Rubio’s meeting with the prime minister is India’s tightening of its Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) to deter its misuse by foreign funders. Rubio’s Christian allies in Washington, including Rep. Chris Smith, urged him to press New Delhi to ease restrictions under the FCRA, which American conservatives claim constrain the flow of foreign funds to Christian charities and churches in India.
