this post was submitted on 07 Feb 2026
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Military Pressured to See ‘Melania’ Against Their Will (www.thedailybeast.com)
submitted 13 hours ago by floofloof@lemmy.ca to c/usa@midwest.social
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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/42814877

Thousands of active-duty military personnel may have been “pressured” into seeing the Melania documentary at cinemas around the country, a watchdog has warned.

The $75 million Amazon film opened last week to $7 million at the box office—despite universally terrible reviews.

According to the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, those numbers have been artificially inflated by pressure from MAGA-aligned officers leaning on their troops to buy tickets.

“People are scared,” Mikey Weinstein, president and founder of the MRFF, said. Weinstein said he has received letters from members of the U.S. military at eight facilities worldwide, complaining that their superiors encouraged or pressured them to see the film.

“Nobody that I know wanted to go except for those that did not want to get jacked up by our unit commander for not attending,” one of those members told Weinstein in a letter seen by journalist Jonathan Larsen.

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[–] GreenWizard@midwest.social 5 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

I feel sometimes like many of them almost acknowledge their weird dichotomies but compartmentalize it. For example, to support ICE to me seems inherently unchristian, because the bible including the new testament constantly talks about treating foreigners well and being peaceful/forgiving/non-materialistic.

But they will excuse voting for Trump by saying "well, he isn't my preacher!". To me that is simply moral relativism, so the Christian part is even more odd, how they barely ever display the values the bible says that they are supposed to live by. It is totally superficial and a country-club type arrangement.

The government is a proxy that allows their bigotry to manifest in the real world, while they can still wear a fake smile and say "I'll pray for you" and in their own mind they are an agent of peace on earth through their prayers. Christianity (USA right-wing varieties) to me is a strange broken mindset, I grew up with reformed Christianity and have had to purge it from my mind as an adult.