The first meeting of President Donald Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission was an exercise in airing conservative evangelical grievances, much like the first meeting of his Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias, according to observers.
The religious liberty meeting was held June 16 at a distinctly evangelical venue, the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. Like the anti-bias meeting April 22, the event was led by Attorney General Pam Bondi, who continues to echo Trump’s false claim that evangelicals are somehow under attack in the United States.
“The federal government became complicit in sheltering these threats, becoming the greatest threat itself,” Bondi said.
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick greets Attorney General Pam Bondi before she speaks during the first hearing of U.S. President Donald Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission June 16 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)
As evidence, she cited nearly two-dozen anti-abortion activists Trump pardoned in January and she claimed former President Joe Biden “marked Easter Sunday, the holiest day in the Christian calendar, as Transgender Day of Visibility.”
As BNG previously reported, there was a rare calendar confluence in 2024 with two events that are scheduled independently of each other. The Biden administration did not set the date for Transgender Day of Visibility or for Easter.
Conservative evangelicals routinely claim any recognition of transgender identity offends them because they believe there is no such thing as a transgender person.
Bondi told members of the Religious Liberty Commission the Trump administration dropped cases against abortion protesters that stemmed from the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act. Also, she said, the administration supports the “rights of parents to protect their children from transgender books” in public schools.
“Let this commission serve as a reminder: Elections have consequences,” Bondi said. “And this president and this administration are fully committed to restoring and defending religious liberty for all Americans.”
Trump and his evangelical allies define religious liberty differently than the traditional meaning. For them, religious liberty means full and free access to their actions without granting the same protection to others. They emphasize the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause over the Establishment Clause. In their view, the Founders established Christianity as a privileged religion, a view not held by scholars of history or religious liberty.
“The Declaration of Independence is consistent with the Bible, and the Bible is consistent with the Declaration of Independence,” said Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the commission’s chair.
“The Declaration of Independence is consistent with the Bible, and the Bible is consistent with the Declaration of Independence.”
Patrick later asserted: “We want to let America know, you have a great inheritance of religious liberty and this commission over this time will free you to be free to pray where and when you want.”
Former HUD Secretary Ben Carson, vice chair of the commission, told the group: “Imagine trying to live in a society with no moral code. This commission promotes freedom of beliefs and that spiritual aspect of our existence that advances civilization. We will strive to facilitate the maintenance of our nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.”
Phil McGraw, known to television audiences as Dr. Phil, also is a member of the commission.
“We are in a cultural war, and not one among us can afford to be a non-combatant as we fight for the soul and sanity of these United States,” he said. “We have to all pay attention to this because if this one goes, if the ideologues are able to pull the rug out of religious liberty, everything else comes tumbling down.”
Religious liberty watchdog groups denounced the meeting as yet another show of Christian nationalism.
Rachel Laser
“Today’s meeting confirmed what we predicted when President Trump announced this commission last month: The commission’s goal is to promote Christian nationalism, not true religious liberty,” said Rachel Laser, president of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. “From the setting at the Museum of the Bible to the political appointees to the speakers invited to testify, it’s clear this commission was created to advance the myth that the United States was founded for white Christians and that our laws and policies must continue to favor their beliefs.”
She added: “Many of today’s speakers have actively worked to undermine church-state separation and weaponize religious freedom as a license to discriminate. Trump designed this commission to favor religious extremists, especially those who want to use the power of our government to impose their religion on others. We need a national recommitment to church-state separation if we’re to achieve our country’s promise of freedom without favor and equality without exception.”
Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons
Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons, vice president of programs and strategy at Interfaith Alliance, said the meeting “was deeply unserious and alarming. Every member is a far-right activist, and the witnesses were clearly all there to reaffirm preexisting beliefs of commissioners. No one mentioned the Trump administration’s alarming persecution of religious charities, leaders and congregations who don’t share their own narrow ideology.
“This hyper-partisan commission does a disservice to the American value of religious liberty,” he said.
The commission’s next meeting will be held in September.
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