MRFF Swamped with Complaints as MAGA Military Commanders Pressure Service Members to See “Melania” Movie

Monday Afternoon, February 2, 2026

MRFF SWAMPED WITH COMPLAINTS

AS MAGA MILITARY COMMANDERS

PRESSURE SERVICE MEMBERS

TO SEE “MELANIA” MOVIE

“... Our unit commander requires active participation from our unit members at what he determines to be official ‘Unit Activity Events’ or UAEs which are supposed to create a bond

within our combat unit and its families.”

“Attendance at all of these UAEs is not mandatory but our unit Commander requires attendance at least at 3 of the 4 these each month. He is the person who decides what is a UAE and what is not. Failure to attend the minimum of 3 UAEs per month will be negatively reflected in our fitness eval reports.

“Yesterday he ‘advised’ our unit members and their families to join him and his wife and children for a showing of that new documentary called ‘Melania’ at an off base movie theater. He said that seeing the film would satisfy attendance at one of his UAEs. When he said ‘advised’ we know what that meant.”

“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. He has made it very clear how he feels about anyone

who does not support the MAGA agenda ...”

— MRFF enlisted military member client, writing on behalf of a dozen unit members and their families

(AI generated image)

JONATHAN LARSEN

COVERS MRFF

Military Commanders Pressured Troops To Watch “Melania”

By: Jonathan Larsen

Saturday, January 31, 2026

Article excerpt:

Members of the U.S. military at eight facilities around the world say they were encouraged or pressured to attend a screening of the new movie “Melania,” according to the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF).

The MRFF typically doesn’t identify its clients — as it refers to service members who seek MRFF help — for fear of reprisal. But in an email shared with me, one MRFF client wrote that their combat unit was “advised” by the commander to join him and his wife at an off-base theater for a showing of “Melania.”

“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,” the service member wrote to MRFF. “I am writing on behalf of a dozen of our unit members and families of whom nine are Christians and white.”

MRFF President and Founder Mikey Weinstein told me Saturday that he received similar complaints from seven other military facilities around the country regarding commanders pushing “Melania” viewings. Weinstein said that complaints came from a variety of branches and locations.

Click to continue reading on Substack

Jonathan Larsen has worked at CNN, MSNBC, and TYT.

He created Up with Chris Hayes, helped launch Anderson Cooper 360, was a senior producer on Countdown with Keith Olbermann, and was managing editor/executive producer at TYT. His original reporting has been cited by members of Congress resisting Christian nationalism.

Full email from MRFF enlisted military member client quoted in Jonathan Larsen’s article

From: (Active Duty Enlisted Military Member/MRFF Client’s email address withheld)

Subject: Unit Commander makes Melania film a designated UAE

Date: January 31, 2026 at 9:15:14 AM MST

To: Information Weinstein <mikey@militaryreligiousfreedom.org>

This email is to confirm a phone call I had with Mr. Weinstein late Friday his time and early Saturday our time at our military installation.

Our unit is a combat outfit. Our unit commander requires active participation from our unit members at what he determines to be official “Unit Activity Events” or UAEs which are supposed to create a bond within our combat unit and its families.

His UAE events have been everything from unit softball games, flag football contests, barbecues and picnics and “movie nights” for our unit members and their families. He has also held Bible studies and given these “UAE” status for those of us who attend.

Attendance at all of these UAEs is not mandatory but our unit Commander requires attendance at least at 3 of the 4 these each month. He is the person who decides what is a UAE and what is not. Failure to attend the minimum of 3 UAEs per month will be negatively reflected in our fitness eval reports.

Yesterday he “advised” our unit members and their families to join him and his wife and children for a showing of that new documentary called “Melania” at an off base movie theater. He said that seeing the film would satisfy attendance at one of his UAEs. When he said “advised” we know what that meant.

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. He has made it very clear how he feels about anyone who does not support the MAGA agenda of our current leaders from the White House and Secretary of Defense down the chain. He has even worn MAGA red hats he owns at many of these UAEs. We feel helpless to try to fight against what he is doing here. I am writing on behalf of a dozen of our unit members and families of whom nine are Christians and white.

(Active Duty Enlisted Military Member/MRFF Client’s name, rank, MOS/AFSC/SFSC, unit, and installation all withheld)

Click to read in Inbox

Flashback to February 2004, when another movie –

“The Passion of the Christ” – was being pushed on Air Force Academy cadets, including Mikey Weinstein’s sons, becoming the last straw and the catalyst for Mikey founding MRFF.

THE FORWARD

Political Response to Air Force

Allegations Divided Along Party Lines

By: E.J. Kessler

Friday, June 10, 2005

Article excerpt (emphasis added):

The academy is embroiled in a controversy over numerous complaints that evangelical Christian cadets and commanders have fostered an atmosphere of coercion and religious intolerance. Reports by Americans United for Separation of Church and State and by Yale Divinity School have documented instances that critics of the academy say constitute unlawful violations of church-state separation.

Weinstein, a Jewish former Reagan administration official, first got involved in the situation at the Air Force Academy when he learned in February 2004 that the dining hall there was filled with posters advertising the film “The Passion of the Christ.” His involvement deepened that July when, on a visit to the academy, his son Curtis told him that he was going to slug the next cadet who accused Jews of being Christ killers or who addressed him with a slur. Weinstein has collected 117 official complaints from individuals who say they have experienced religious coercion or discrimination at the academy; eight of the complainants are Jewish.