Politico reporter goes viral with comments on 'Christian nationalists'
Politico's Heidi Przybyla went viral Friday for comments she made about "Christian nationalist" during an appearance on MSNBC.
EXCLUSIVE - Prominent Christian groups sent a letter to Politico demanding an apology for what they call the "smearing of the Christian faith" following comments made by one of its top reporters.
In the letter addressed to Politico's leadership on Wednesday, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council and Brian Burch of Catholic Vote slammed Politico national investigative correspondent Heidi Przybyla's "disqualifying lack of knowledge of the United States of America’s founding documents and a profoundly prejudicial view toward American religious groups."
The letter, first obtained by Fox News Digital, was in response to Przybyla's viral remarks last week on MSNBC bashing "Christian nationalists."
"The base of the Republican Party has shifted, right?" Przybyla said on Thursday night. "Remember when Trump ran in 2016, a lot of the mainline evangelicals wanted nothing to do with the divorced, you know, real estate mogul who had cheated on his wife with a porn star and all of that. So what happened was he was surrounded by this more extremist element. They're gonna hear words like ‘Christian nationalism,' like the ‘New Apostolic reformation.’ These are groups that you should get very, very schooled on because they have a lot of power in Trump's circle."
Politico correspondent Heidi Przybyla is under fire for comments she made about "Christian nationalists" during an appearance on MSNBC. (Screenshot/MSNBC)
"The thing that unites them as Christian nationalists - not Christians, by the way, because Christian nationalist is very different - is that they believe that our rights as Americans, as all human beings, don't come from any earthly authority. They don't come from Congress, they don't come from the Supreme Court. They come from God. The problem with that is that they are determining- man, men, it is men are determining what God is telling them," Przybyla continued. "And in the past, that so-called natural law is, you know, it's a pillar of Catholicism, for instance. It has been used for good in social justice campaigns, Martin Luther King evoked it in talking about civil rights, but now you have an extremist element of conservative Christians who say that this applies specifically to issues including abortion, gay marriage, and it's going much further than that."
Perkins and Burch knocked Przybyla for not acknowledging "our own Republic was founded on the belief that our rights come from God, not earthly kings or government," citing the Declaration of Independence.
"As a National Investigative Correspondent for Politico, Ms. Przybyla is charged with reporting accurately on American government, politics, and law. It is deeply disturbing, therefore, that she appeared unaware of the opening of the Declaration of Independence or to its references of ‘the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God,’" the Christian leaders wrote. "Equally concerning is Ms. Przybyla’s smearing of the Christian faith reflected in her comments. Her statements constituted an attempt to spread misinformation about Christians by creating the perception that they hold unique beliefs that pose a distinct and, in her words ‘extremist,’ threat to our country."
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The letter continued, "Setting aside the inaccuracy of her commentary, she was manifestly trying to demonize the Christian community and sow fear through propaganda. Przybla's attacks on God as the source of our dignity and rights are also a direct attack on the unifying call of the civil rights movement, including Martin Luther King Jr., who reminded us of our common creed, which grounded human dignity and rights explicitly in a creator God, that no government has a right to take away. Her public platform and ability to reach millions makes this case even more disturbing."
Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council, co-authored a letter to Politico demanding an apology over Przybyla's comments. (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)
The two leaders went on to insist Przybyla's comments "are representative of a consistent pattern of singling out Christian organizations and individuals," citing a report she authored in December about the effort by activists for a publicly funded Christian school in Oklahoma. They claim such comments "can and often do have life and death consequences for faith communities," pointing to the uptick in violent incidents at places of worship.
"Rhetoric like Ms. Przybyla’s, which demonizes religious groups, is profoundly dangerous. It can motivate disturbed individuals who may be predisposed to commit violence against faith communities… Ms. Przybyla’s comments reflect a pervasive bias that not only prevents her from accurately and fairly covering issues related to religion and religious communities, but Politico’s silence suggests it condones these attacks on people of faith. Ms. Przybyla owes people of faith an apology, as does her employer. Politico must confirm that such offensive comments have no place within its organization," the letter concluded.
The letter was addressed to Politco editor-in-chief John Harris, Politico CEO Goli Sheikholeslami as well as its parent company Axel Springer.
Politico did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Critics accused Przybyla of being ignorant of American civics, many of them pointing her to the Declaration of Independence. (Chris Hondros/Newsmakers via Getty Images)
Przybyla remained defiant against her critics on Friday, claiming they had taken a viral clip of her out of context.
"That is NOT what I said & you know it. Why don't you play the full clip?" Przybyla reacted to a viral post of her comments. "I said men are making their own policy interpretation of natural law. MLK did so w social justice. You're welcome to as well but you don't speak for all Christians & certainly not for God."
She later added, "While there are different wings of Christian Nationalism, they are bound by their belief that our rights come from God. If you are Hindu, Jewish etc, this might help you understand the next part of my point, which is they are using this for a man-made policy agenda… which distinguishes this from other Christians who leave these God-given rights at our inherent right to ‘Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’ -- vs banning abortion, contraception etc."
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In response to Fox News Digital's request for comment, Przybyla pointed to the full clip of her remarks and did not comment further.
Earlier in the week, Przybyla co-authored a report claiming that top allies of former President Trump are ready to "infuse" Christian nationalism into a second administration if he's elected, spearheaded by his former White House budget director and current president of the conservative think tank Center for Renewing America Russell Vought.