Miss USA model Carrie Prejean Boller has been removed from the White House’s Religious Liberty Commission following a heated discussion surrounding Israel and antisemitism.
“Carrie Prejean Boller has been removed from President Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission,” said Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, the chair of the Commission. “No member of the Commission has the right to hijack a hearing for their own personal and political agenda on any issue. This is clearly, without question, what happened Monday in our hearing on antisemitism in America. This was my decision.”
Patrick noted that the Commission has done “outstanding work” and went on to honor President Trump’s respect of “all faiths.”
“He believes that all Americans have a right to receive the great inheritance given to them by our founding fathers in the First Amendment,” he wrote. “I am grateful to President Trump for having the vision and boldness to create this Commission. Fighting for the Word of God and religious freedom is what this nation was founded upon. Leading this fight will be one of his greatest legacies.”
During the Commission’s recent meeting, Boller wore a pin bearing both the U.S and Palestinian flags, which she said was a “moral statement of solidarity with civilians who are being bombed, displaced, and deliberately starved in Gaza.”
“Forcing people to affirm Zionism as a condition of participation is not only wrong, it is directly contrary to religious freedom, especially on a body created to protect conscience,” she added. “As a Catholic, i have both a constitutional right and a God-given freedom of religion and conscience not to endorse a political ideology or a government that is carrying out mass civilian killing and starvation.”
The controversy comes as a lawsuit against the Religious Liberty Commission claims that it violates the First Amendment.
