WASHINGTON (RNS) — In a speech on religious liberty given at the Museum of the Bible on Monday (Sept. 8), President Donald Trump vowed his administration would combat “anti-Christian bias,” spurring cheers from the crowd at an event that was almost entirely focused on Christianity.
“There is a tremendous anti-Christian bias,” said Trump at a public hearing of the White House Religious Liberty Commission, created by executive order in May. “We don’t hear about it. You hear about antisemitic, but you don’t hear about anti-Christian. They have a strong anti-Christian bias, but we’re ending that rapidly, I will tell you — we’re in a much different world today than we were one year ago.”
The crowd, which included members of several faiths, but where conservative Christians were heavily represented, roared its approval.
The Religious Liberty Commission operates under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Justice. The agency’s head, Attorney General Pam Bondi, introduced Trump at the event, saying there is “no greater defender of the First Amendment than the president.”
In the nearly 50-minute speech that followed, the president addressed his decision to deploy National Guard troops in U.S. cities and meandered through unrelated topics. But he repeatedly returned to the topic of the day: what he said is widespread discrimination faced by religious children, particularly conservative Christians, in public schools.
“We will pro …