Religious Liberty Commission holds hearing on antisemitism
- GAB NEWS
- 28 minutes ago
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President Donald Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission discussed antisemitism at its hearing in Washington, DC, on Feb. 9, the same day the commission was sued for allegedly violating federal law requiring such groups to have viewpoint balance.
The hearing at the Museum of the Bible centered on antisemitism on college campuses and the role of state and local officials in defending religious liberty.
An audience member was removed at one point for outbursts during remarks by commissioner Carrie Prejean, who rejected notions that anti-Zionism equates to antisemitism. She also sparred with a witness and The Babylon Bee CEO, Seth Dillon, in defense of Candace Owens, rejecting his suggestion that Owens had made antisemitic remarks.
Other witnesses included Jewish Christian Alliance Founder Liat Cohen-Reeis, who said antisemitic incidents are happening “all over the country,” and Moshe Glick, who was pardoned in January for charges stemming from a pro-Palestinian protest that devolved into violence at a New Jersey synagogue in 2024. Glick was accused of hitting a protester in the head with a flashlight, according to the New York Times.
At the hearing, Glick attributed the country’s "extraordinary success” to its embrace of Judeo-Christian values and said societies can prosper or fall depending on their support for and protection of Jewish people.
The hearing also referenced the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, the law federal prosecutors have invoked in charging journalists who covered an anti-ICE protest at a Minnesota church in January.
The law bars, among other actions, “intentionally injuring, intimidating or interfering with” a person attempting to seek or provide services at a reproductive health facility or place of worship. It specifies, however, that the act should not be used to “prohibit any expressive conduct – including peaceful picketing or other peaceful demonstration” protected by the First Amendment.
Trump’s White House has maintained that past administrations weaponized the law against religious Americans.
Leo Terrell, a civil rights attorney who heads the Department of Justice’s Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism, described it primarily as a local matter given the “tremendous” federal protections for religious liberty.
He added that antisemitism shouldn’t be seen as a “Jewish issue.”
“This is an issue of right versus wrong, and it’s wrong to have antisemitism in this country,” he said.
Antisemitism was also discussed in the commission’s Sept. 8 hearing on religious liberty in public education. That hearing included an announcement from Trump about upcoming guidance from the Department of Education on the right to prayer in public schools, which was released on Feb. 5.
The number of antisemitic incidents nationwide spiked in the wake of Israel's war in Gaza following Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
Trump established the commission, which is tasked with advising the government on religious liberty issues, in 2025. The members' terms, and the commission itself, will end on July 4, 2026 − the 250th anniversary of American independence − unless Trump extends it.
The executive order establishing the commission said Americans “need to be reacquainted with our nation’s superb experiment in religious freedom in order to preserve it against emerging threats.”
The Feb. 9 lawsuit, filed by groups including Interfaith Alliance and Hindus for Human Rights, accused the commission of having a lack of religious and ideological diversity in violation of a federal law requiring such groups to be "fairly balanced in terms of the points of view represented."
The commission includes Protestant, Catholic and Jewish people, but no Muslims or members of other minority religious groups. Its members broadly "espouse the view that America is a 'Judeo-Christian' nation with limited, if any restrictions, on infusing their religious values into government," the lawsuit said.
BrieAnna Frank is a First Amendment reporter at USA TODAY. Reach her at bjfrank@usatoday.com.
USA TODAY's coverage of First Amendment issues is funded through a collaboration between the Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners. Funders do not provide editorial input.
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