Carlin built his identity as a right wing Christian Nationalist, frequently complaining that Christians do not have enough power over government in Iowa and in the United States. Carlin became defensive when it was observed that Christian Nationalist politicians such as himself seek to impose discrimination on the basis of religion, saying, “those who find wisdom in the Bible and are tired of being called bigots because they believe what’s in it.”

As an elected official, Carlin attempted to pass legislation that would have allowed infected people to walk through hospitals without a protective face mask or any other measures to prevent the spread of the deadly COVID-19 virus to vulnerable patients. He spoke vigorously against public health measures during the pandemic, spreading conspiracy theories that resulted in the deaths of thousands upon thousands of Americans. Carlin repeatedly spread misinformation about vaccines, supporting wild social media rumors over consensus medical science.

In 2022, Jim Carlin ran a primary election challenge to US Senator Charles Grassley. Carlin campaigned to the right of Grassley, spreading more conspiracy theories about how a secret cabal of Deep State insiders somehow stole the 2020 election from Donald Trump. “Most of us in my caucus and the Republican caucus believe the election was stolen,” Carlin said, although he was never able to point to any actual evidence of a stolen election. Carlin criticized Senator Grassley for certifying the 2020 election, although it was clearly Grassley’s legal duty to do so.

In the state legislature, Carlin attempted to start a McCarthyist witch hunt against college professors, introducing legislation that would have required professors to submit to inquisitions about their political beliefs. Carlin’s plan was to have ideologically impure professors driven out of their jobs using this information.

Carlin also used his position as an elected official to attempt to impose discrimination against LGBTQ Iowans. Carlin’s extremism, though, was too much even for the Iowa Republican Party. He lost the 2022 primary election with less than 30% of the Republican vote.

Jim Carlin is a member of the Morningside Assembly of God Church, but he is not a leader of that church. It’s profoundly dishonest to depict Jim Carlin as a “faith leader”, when in fact he’s a lawyer and politician who has used religious extremism as a to advance his own political career.