'Jesus was a radical': Progressives invoke Christ to sell left-wing agenda on campaign trail

Progressives seeking a seat in the Senate are taking a decades-old page from their Republican counterparts, using faith as a political tool to build connections with voters.

Three progressive Democratic candidates running for the Senate, Florida state Rep.

Angie Nixon, Abdul El-Sayed and Texas state Rep.

James Talarico, share a penchant for bucking the Democratic establishment in their meteoric rise this midterm cycle.

They have also incorporated their religions and faiths into their campaigns and messaging to voters, showing shades of the "Moral Majority" coalition that formed during the late 1970s in the GOP when former President Ronald Reagan was running as Republicans sought to tie policy to Christianity.

PROGRESSIVE FLORIDA LAWMAKER ANGIE NIXON TOPPLES TRUMP IMPEACHMENT WITNESS IN DEM SENATE PRIMARY UPSET Nixon, who scored a major upset against Alexander Vindman, a major figure during President Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial who was backed by the Democratic establishment in Washington, D.C., has become a prime target for the GOP because of her connection to the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).

During a sermon last week at the Saint Paul AME Church of Jacksonville, Fla., Nixon, who will face Sen.

Ashley Moody, R-Fla., in November, contended that her "radical" positions were akin to those of Jesus Christ.

"They are trying, y'all.

They are trying … to label me as this extremist, this radical.

But, you know, Jesus was a radical," Nixon said.

EL-SAYED MAKES JESUS COMPARISON WHEN PRESSED ON SOCIALIST VIEWS: 'RADICAL IN HIS TIME, TOO' "And Jesus fought for — I mean, he pushed for the same things that I'm fighting for today, right? Right now, we're literally in a civil rights moment," she continued.

"Whether or not people wanna believe it or not, but we are." She joined the DSA in June, prompting immediate backlash from the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), the Senate GOP’s campaign arm, which tied her to socialism, despite her denial that she’s a Democratic socialist.

Nixon isn’t the only one of the three to make the same comparison.