Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission Goes Off The Rails With Panelists At Each Others’ Throats
A hearing by President Donald Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission on Monday degenerated into a contentious debate over Christianity, anti-Semitism and Zionism.
The hearing, held at the Museum of the Bible and focused on issues of anti-Semitism and religious freedom in the private sector, quickly derailed as infighting broke out among panelists. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: GOP Reps Unveil Bill to Address Heart of Christian Persecution in Country)
About an hour and a half into the hearing, panel member and former Miss USA model Carrie Prejean Boller asked panelist Yitzy Frankel — a former UCLA law student who sued the university over the 2024 campus encampments — whether talk of “genocide in Gaza” should be considered anti-Semitic.
Boller, who appeared to be wearing both a Palestinian flag and an American flag on his lapel, offered his position before Frankel responded.
“The United States cannot and should not make loyalty to a particular theology regarding Israel a litmus test for the protection of free speech or moral legitimacy,” she said.
“Charlie Kirk said that hatred of Jews was brain rot,” Frankel replied. He said Israel should not be held to double standards, alleging that students called for an intifada hours after Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
Boller pressed the issue of Zionism and read a quote from a New York rabbi suggesting that Zionism is anti-Semitic. She then asked whether his statement criticizing Zionism was anti-Semitic.
“I don’t think you have to be a Zionist to support a country that defends itself and is free and religious in a hostile neighborhood,” Frankel said, later confirming that he thought anti-Zionism was anti-Semitic.
Rabbi Ari Berman joined the exchange and said it was not anti-Semitic to criticize Israeli policies. However, he claimed that it is anti-Semitic to deny Israel’s right to exist without applying the same standards to Christian and Islamic countries.
Boller warned panelists against making Islamophobic remarks, drawing more boos than applause from the audience.
“If the Jewish people are the only ones to whom you deny the right to have their own state, that is absolutely a double standard: hypocrisy and anti-Semitism,” Berman continued.
Boller said Catholics, citing herself, do not adhere to Zionism and asked if that made all Catholics anti-Semitic. Berman reiterated his argument about double standards before Boller intervened. She was then interrupted by another member who emphasized that the commission focuses on religious freedom and not on defining religions or theological doctrines.
“I do not agree with this, because as a Catholic I do not agree that the new modern State of Israel has any prophesied biblical significance,” Boller concluded. “So that’s my position. And I’m Catholic.”
Thank you everyone for the love and support I have received. I will continue to oppose Zionist supremacy in America. I am a proud Catholic. Under no circumstances will I be forced to accept Zionism as a fulfillment of biblical prophecy. I am a free American. Not the slave of a foreign nation.
– Carrie Préjean Boller (@CarriePrejean1) February 10, 2026
In the second half of the hearing, Boller questioned Seth Dillon, CEO of Babylon Bee, about online censorship of anti-Semitism and asked whether he would support censorship of New Testament verses that describe Jews as killing Jesus or driving Christians out of the country.
The exchange prompted an audience member to call for Boller to be removed before he himself was escorted out following a warning.
Dillon said Boller misunderstood his position, saying anti-Semitism was not a platform issue and should be combatted through dialogue rather than censorship.
Dillon said Candace Owens claimed people blackmailed Kirk before his death so that he would continue to support Israel. Dillon alleged that these claims led to death threats.
“The anti-Zionists, the anti-Semites, will do everything they can to smear you, destroy you, intimidate you and try to shut you up and silence you,” Dillon said.
He specifically called Owens a “prominent and vocal anti-Semite.”
Boller, who said he listens to Owens daily, asked Dillon to stop calling Owens an anti-Semite.
“She’s not anti-Semitic. She just doesn’t support Zionism. And that really needs to stop,” Boller argued.
Dillon said Owens went “far beyond just supporting Zionism.”
“She calls the Jews the synagogue of Satan…she often uses the word Zionist and the word Jewish interchangeably,” Dillon claimed.
“So, do you think saying “Christ is King” is anti-Semitic? » asked Boller.
Dillon, a Christian, responded that Christ is King, but argued that the phrase had been co-opted and abused by specialized right-wing anti-Semitic groups.
Boller countered, suggesting that analyzing why someone says “Christ is King” is itself anti-Christian.
In a statement released Tuesday, Boller reiterated her comments and said she would not resign from the commission, arguing that it should represent views beyond pro-Israel Zionism.
The commission, made up entirely of Christians except for one Jewish member, was sued at the hearing by several multi-faith organizations for its lack of representation of religious minorities. (RELATED: Trump Religious Liberty Commission Sued for Being Too Christian)
The Religious Liberty Commission did not respond to The Daily Caller’s request for comment.
