Politico is in hot water following comments the outlet's national investigative correspondent Heidi Przybyla made on MSNBC earlier this month.
As Townhall reported last week, Przybyla's comments claiming all Americans who believe their rights come from God, not the government — a key tenet of conservatism and the foundation on which America was founded — are extremist "Christian nationalists" quickly and justifiably drew criticism.
Here @MSNBC helpfully makes it clear their disdain for Christians in America.
— Wade Miller (@WadeMiller_USMC) February 23, 2024
She says that if you believe that your rights come from God, you aren’t a Christian, you are a Christian nationalist.
Somehow they seem to not mention that our own founding documents make this… pic.twitter.com/WTLMqcqTzg
Now, Politico is facing formal calls for an apology from two of America's leading faith-focused organizations: the Family Research Council and Catholic Vote.
FRC President Tony Perkins and Catholic Vote President Brian Burch fired off a letter Wednesday to Politico's editor-in-chief John Harris, Politico CEO Goli Sheikholeslami, and Jan Brewer, the Deputy of CEO of Politico's parent Axel Springer, demanding an apology for Przybyla's attack on Christians.
Saying Przybyla "demonstrated a disqualifying lack of knowledge of the United States of America's founding documents and a prejudicial view toward American religious groups," Burch and Perkins noted how Politico's reporter failed to acknowledge "that our own Republic was founded on the belief that our rights come from God, not earthly kings or government," a revolutionary idea "clearly articulated in the Declaration of Independence."
"Ms. Przybyla is charged with reporting accurately on American government, politics, and law," the religious leaders' letter noted. "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.'"
In addition to a woeful lack of knowledge about America's founding, Perkins and Burch called out Przybyla for "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."
Adding Przybyla "was manifestly trying to demonize the Christian community and sow fear through propaganda," the letter from Burch and Perkins underscores the fact that "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." That Przybyla has a "public platform and ability to reach millions," the letter emphasized, "makes this case even more disturbing."
Noting a surge in attacks targeting places of worship in the United States in 2023 — including the shooter who targeted a Christian day school in Nashville, fire bombings of Catholic churches, and anti-semitic attacks on the Jewish community which shares "the same Judeo-Christian faith tradition that is central to our nation's founding" — Burch and Perkins said such attacks are "fueled by false stereotypes and propaganda" that seek to make America's faithful out to be "a threat to our society."
"We the undersigned believe that 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," wrote Perkins and Burch. As a result, "Ms. Przybyla owes people of faith an apology, as does her employer," the faith leaders emphasized. "Politico must confirm that such offensive comments have no place within its organization."
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