People Are Not Happy After Trump Said "Let's Forget" About The Separation Of Church And State
On Thursday — which was National Prayer Day — Donald Trump signed an executive order creating a presidential commission on religious liberty. During the White House event, he openly questioned the principle of separation between church and state.
Trump has made his appeal to Christian supporters clear in his second term. He's also established a White House Faith Office — appointing American televangelist Paula White to lead it — and created a "Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias" in the government.
In a clip circulating on social media from the event, Trump said of his faith advisors, "They work right out of the White House. That's never been done before. No other president allowed that. They say 'separation between church and state,' they told me. I said, alright, let's forget about that for one time."
RSBN / @atrupar / Via Twitter: @atrupar
He continued, "We said, separation, really, is that a good thing or a bad thing? I'm not sure, but whether there's separation or not, you guys are in the White House, where you should be, and you're representing our country. And we're bringing religion back to our country. And it's a big deal."
Trump's newly formed commission on religious liberty will be chaired by Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, an evangelical Christian who has described the United States as "a Christian nation" and argued that the Constitution contains "no separation of church and state." The commission, which is predominantly composed of Christian members (there's one Rabbi), includes Dr. Ben Carson as vice chair, television host Dr. Phil, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, and Kelly Shackelford, CEO of First Liberty, a conservative legal group based in Plano, Texas.
Related: People Are Obsessed With Pope Francis's Final, Resounding Message To JD Vance After His Visit To The Vatican
The First Amendment of the Constitution prohibits Congress from making any law "respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." This clause, called the Establishment Clause, has long been interpreted as establishing the principle of separation between church and state.
The US Supreme Court has upheld this interpretation in key cases, such as Everson v. Board of Education (1947), which applied the Establishment Clause to state governments, and Engel v. Vitale (1962), which struck down state-sponsored prayer in public schools. These rulings reflect a long effort to maintain government neutrality in religious affairs.
Now, people are saying Trump's remarks and actions appear to be directly challenging that tradition. "Let's forget about everything in the Constitution," one person wrote in reaction to Trump's comments.
Related: Donald Trump Supporters Are Waking Up To The Reality Of Their Ballot Choices, And The Stories Are A Loooooot
"Why don't you just rip the constitution to shreds while you're at it," another said.
"He treats the First Amendment like a parking ticket: annoying, optional, and easy to ignore," someone else said.
Even lawmakers started speaking out. US Rep. Jared Huffman said, "The separation of church and state was created to protect Americans from exactly this kind of religious favoritism. No one religion should reign supreme — and all must stay separate from government."
Another user echoed a similar concern: "As a Christian, I never wanted the government having any say over my faith, and that stands for this crew, too."
Well, as Trump fills faith councils and commissions with overwhelmingly Christian figures and casts doubt on foundational constitutional principles, one thing becomes increasingly clear: his vision of "religious liberty" seems closely aligned with one idea — furthering Christian nationalism.
But let me know your thoughts down in the comments. What do you think about Trump saying, "let's forget" about the separation between church and state "for one time"?
Also in In the News: "Honestly Speechless At How Evil This Is": 26 Brutal, Brutal, Brutal Political Tweets Of The Week
Also in In the News: Everyone Is Absolutely Losing It Over This Canadian Newspaper Mocking Donald Trump
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Associated Press
34 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Vance says Musk making a 'huge mistake' in going after Trump but also tries to downplay the attacks
BRIDGEWATER, N.J. (AP) — Vice President JD Vance said Elon Musk was making a 'huge mistake' going after President Donald Trump in a storm of bitter and inflammatory social media posts after a falling out between the two men. But the vice president, in an interview released Friday after the very public blow up between the world's richest man and arguably the world's most powerful, also tried to downplay Musk's blistering attacks as an 'emotional guy' who got frustrated. 'I hope that eventually Elon comes back into the fold. Maybe that's not possible now because he's gone so nuclear,' Vance said. Vance's comments come as other Republicans in recent days have urged the two men, who months ago were close allies spending significant time together, to mend fences. Musk's torrent of social media posts attacking Trump came as the president portrayed him as disgruntled and 'CRAZY' and threatened to cut the government contracts held by his businesses. Musk, who runs electric vehicle maker Tesla, internet company Starlink and rocket company SpaceX, lambasted Trump's centerpiece tax cuts and spending bill but also suggested Trump should be impeached and claimed without evidence that the government was concealing information about the president's association with infamous pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. 'Look, it happens to everybody,' Vance said in the interview. 'I've flown off the handle way worse than Elon Musk did in the last 24 hours.' Vance made the comments in an interview with ' manosphere' comedian Theo Von, who last month joked about snorting drugs off a mixed-race baby and the sexuality of men in the U.S. Navy when he opened for Trump at a military base in Qatar. The vice president told Von that as Musk for days was calling on social media for Congress to kill Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill,' the president was 'getting a little frustrated, feeling like some of the criticisms were unfair coming from Elon, but I think has been very restrained because the president doesn't think that he needs to be in a blood feud with Elon Musk.' 'I actually think if Elon chilled out a little bit, everything would be fine,' he added. Musk appeared by Saturday morning to have deleted his posts about Epstein. The interview was taped Thursday as Musk's posts were unfurling on X, the social media network the billionaire owns. During the interview, Von showed the vice president Musk's claim that Trump's administration hasn't released all the records related to sex abuser Jeffrey Epstein because Trump is mentioned in them. Vance responded to that, saying, 'Absolutely not. Donald Trump didn't do anything wrong with Jeffrey Epstein.' 'This stuff is just not helpful,' Vance said in response to another post shared by Musk calling for Trump to be impeached and replaced with Vance. 'It's totally insane. The president is doing a good job.' Vance called Musk an 'incredible entrepreneur,' and said that Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, which sought to cut government spending and laid off or pushed out thousands of workers, was 'really good.' The vice president also defended the bill that has drawn Musk's ire, and said its central goal was not to cut spending but to extend the 2017 tax cuts approved in Trump's first term. The bill would slash spending but also leave some 10.9 million more people without health insurance and spike deficits by $2.4 trillion over the decade, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Musk has warned that the bill will increase the federal deficit and called it a 'disgusting abomination.' 'It's a good bill,' Vance said. 'It's not a perfect bill.' He also said it was ridiculous for some House Republicans who voted for the bill but later found parts objectional to claim they hadn't had time to read it. Vance said the text had been available for weeks and said, 'the idea that people haven't had an opportunity to actually read it is ridiculous.' Elsewhere in the interview, Vance laughed as Von cracked jokes about famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass' sexuality. 'We're gonna talk to the Smithsonian about putting up an exhibit on that,' Vance joked. 'And Theo Von, you can be the narrator for this new understanding of the history of Frederick Douglass.' The podcaster also asked the vice president if he 'got high' on election night to celebrate Trump's victory. Vance laughed and joked that he wouldn't admit it if he did. 'I did not get high,' he then said. 'I did have a fair amount to drink that night.' The interview was taped in Nashville at a restaurant owned by musician Kid Rock, a Trump ally.
The Hill
38 minutes ago
- The Hill
Trump hails court ruling allowing White House to restrict AP access
President Trump celebrated a federal appeals court's ruling that allows the White House, for now, to restrict The Associated Press (AP) from the Oval Office and other limited spaces when reporting on the commander-in-chief. 'Big WIN over AP today,' Trump wrote on Truth Social on Friday. 'They refused to state the facts or the Truth on the GULF OF AMERICA. FAKE NEWS!!!' The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia temporarily blocked, in a 2-1 decision on Friday, an early April order from a district court judge that allowed the AP to regain its access to key White House spaces. The ruling blocked an April 8 order by U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden that found that the news wire's exclusion from the press pool, a small cadre of reporters reporting on the president's whereabouts, was unlawful. 'The White House is likely to succeed on the merits because these restricted presidential spaces are not First Amendment fora opened for private speech and discussion,' Judge Neomi Rao said in the Friday opinion, joined by Judge Gregory Katsas. AP's spokesperson Patrick Maks said the organization is 'disappointed in the court's decision and are reviewing our options.' The White House's decision to exclude the AP originated from the news wire not wanting to use Gulf of America in its industry stylebook. The three-judge panel did not halt the part of McFadden's April order that provides AP access to the East Room. Judge Cornelia Pillard said in her dissent that being able to be in the press pool never relied on the news outlet's viewpoint until this year. 'The panel's stay of the preliminary injunction cannot be squared with longstanding First Amendment precedent, multiple generations of White House practice and tradition, or any sensible understanding of the role of a free press in our constitutional democracy,' Pillard wrote. Days after McFadden ruled in favor of AP in April, the White House removed a spot in the press pool normally occupied by wire services.
Epoch Times
39 minutes ago
- Epoch Times
US Revoking Chinese Student Visas Is a Matter of National Security, Not Brain Drain
Commentary As the Trump administration revokes visas for Chinese students, critics cry xenophobia, but evidence shows that the United States has been training and funding China's future military and tech dominance.
