Everyone’s least favorite former White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, devoted a segment on her show this week to decrying the apparently wrongful demonstration of faith by newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana. Yet it was the same Jen Psaki who routinely stood in the White House briefing room to declare President Biden’s status as a “devout Catholic.” You see, it’s ok when Democrats are “religious” because it largely means…nothing. But when conservatives choose to be devout adherents to their faith, it’s a serious problem.
On MSNBC’s “Inside with Jen Psaki,” the former Biden spokeswoman lamented the fact that “the Bible just doesn’t inform [Speaker Johnson’s] worldview, it is his worldview. In fact, during his first speech in the new job, Johnson suggested his election as speaker was ‘an act of God,’” Psaki bemoaned. “His views on policy are essentially what you’d expect from a religious fundamentalist,” Psaki continued with her smear, “they are more divisive than they are divine.”
Well, a cursory review of transcripts from Jen Psaki’s tenure as White House press secretary reveals a few instances of her seeing no problem touting Biden’s religion — and what she says is his practice of it — despite now saying it’s problematic for Speaker Johnson to adhere to his Christian faith.
“He does attend church nearly every weekend, and that’s something that’s important to him personally and to his family,” Psaki said in a February 2021 briefing. “And he’s talked about the impact of his faith on healing and everything he’s been through as a human being, so certainly it’s a guide to him as a human being,” she added.
Somehow, Biden using his faith as “a guide” is something to be heralded, but Johnson viewing the world through the lens of his faith is “fundamentalist” divisiveness?
Speaking of using faith to divide, here’s what Psaki said on Biden’s first day in office when asked about the newly sworn-in president’s views on abortion policy (emphasis added):
“Well, I think we’ll have more to say on the Mexico City Policy in the coming days, but I will just take the opportunity to remind all of you that he is a devout Catholic and somebody who attends church regularly,” Psaki emphasized. “He started his day attending church with his family this morning. But I don’t have anything more for you on that.”
Oh, so because Biden is a “devout Catholic” who attends church “regularly” that means the White House shouldn’t have to face questions about policies that allow taxpayer funding for abortions in the U.S. and abroad? I guess being a devoutly religious person means all that person’s policy positions are above reproach, as long as that person is a Democrat.
Biden himself, at a fundraiser in Chevy Chase, Maryland, earlier in 2023, addressed abortion with the crowd of Democrat donors. “I’m a practicing Catholic,” Biden insisted, before claiming “I’m not big on abortion, but guess what? Roe vs. Wade got it right.” Again, using his supposedly devout Catholicism as a shield for criticism about his policies and agenda that are, in fact, quite “big” on allowing women to kill their unborn children. But he’s a “devout Catholic,” so it’s ok.
Back to Psaki: If she wants to discuss the apparent inappropriate nature of a speaker of the House living out their faith, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi didn’t have a problem declaring her status as a member of the Catholic Church and using it as a shield against criticism either. Yet Psaki and other Democrats never condemned her for publicly claiming her religious bona fides.
In fact, Pelosi used her faith to defend abortion at least ten times in her long career. In May 2022, here’s how she did the same trick Biden and Psaki used: “The very idea that they would be telling women the size, timing or whatever of their family, the personal nature of this is so appalling, and I say that as a devout Catholic.”
Later that year, she said this: “It’s what is the right of people to make their own decisions about the sizing and time, or if they’re going to have a family…This really gets me burned up, in case you didn’t notice, because, again, I’m very Catholic — devout, practicing, all of that.”
Ah yes, “all of that.”
So why is it that when Mike Johnson chooses to live out his faith — by praying on the House floor or carrying his Bible around the halls of Congress or daring to say his worldview is one imbued by his religion — it's suddenly dangerous fundamentalism that must be pointed out and condemned by the likes of Psaki and her Democrat ilk?
Why isn’t it dangerous for the likes of Biden and Pelosi to use their warped interpretations of their faith to pursue limitless "rights" for mothers — a term they can’t even define — to kill their unborn children?
Newsflash for Democrats: you aren’t the only people who can claim religiosity. Nor do you own the exclusive right to live out whatever you claim as your faith. In fact, most Democrats are really bad at doing so, as evidenced by the Catholic Church's condemnations of Pelosi and other "devout" Democrats.
For someone who has the rather undesirable task of leading the fractured House of Representatives through quite difficult times, it’s clear Speaker Johnson is going to need all the help he can find to succeed in the role.
It might come as a surprise to Jen Psaki, but the phrase “IN GOD WE TRUST” emblazoned above the speaker’s chair in the House Chamber is not just a reprint of what appears on U.S. currency — it’s a statement of faith that generations of House speakers and lawmakers have clung to in good and bad times. To have a speaker seated beneath those words who truly believes those words and seeks to govern in a way that reflects his faith is a refreshing opportunity.