Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission Goes Off The Rails With Panelists At Each Others’ Throats

A hearing for President Donald Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission Monday devolved into a contentious debate over Christianity, antisemitism and Zionism.

The hearing, held at the Museum of the Bible and focused on antisemitism and religious liberty issues in the private sector, quickly went off the rails as infighting erupted among panelists. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: GOP Reps Unveil Bill To Tackle Heart Of Christian Persecution In Country)

About an hour and a half into the hearing, commission member and former Miss USA model Carrie Prejean Boller asked panelist Yitzy Frankel — a former UCLA law student who sued the university over the 2024 campus encampments — whether speaking out about the “genocide in Gaza” should be viewed as antisemitic.

Boller, who appeared to be wearing both a Palestinian flag and an American flag on her lapel, offered her position before Frankel responded.

“The United States cannot and must not make loyalty to a particular theology about Israel a litmus test for protected speech or moral legitimacy,” she said.

“Charlie Kirk said that Jew hate is brain rot,” Frankel replied. He said Israel should not be held to a double standard, alleging that students called for intifada hours after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Boller pressed the issue of Zionism and read a quote from a New York rabbi suggesting Zionism is antisemitic. She then asked whether his statement criticizing Zionism was antisemitic.

“I don’t think you need to be a Zionist to support a country that defends itself and is free and religious in a hostile neighborhood,” Frankel said, later confirming that he believes anti-Zionism is antisemitic.

Rabbi Ari Berman joined the exchange and said it is not antisemitic to criticize Israeli policy. However, he asserted that it is antisemitic to deny Israel’s right to exist while not applying the same standard to Christian and Islamic countries.

Boller warned panelists against making Islamophobic remarks, drawing more boos than clapping from the audience.

“If the Jewish people are the only people that you deny the right to have its own state, that is absolutely a double standard. Hypocrisy and antisemitism,” Berman continued.

Boller stated that Catholics, citing herself, do not embrace Zionism and asked whether that makes all Catholics antisemites. Berman reiterated his argument about double standards before Boller interjected. She was then interrupted by another member who noted the commission focuses on religious liberty, not defining religions or theological doctrines.

“I don’t agree with that, because as a Catholic, I don’t agree that the new modern state of Israel has any biblical prophecy meaning at all,” Boller concluded. “So that’s my stance. And I’m Catholic.”

Thank you all for the love and support I’ve received. I will continue to stand against Zionist supremacy in America. I’m a proud Catholic. I, in no way will be forced to embrace Zionism as a fulfillment of biblical prophesy. I am a free American. Not a slave to a foreign nation.

— Carrie Prejean Boller (@CarriePrejean1) February 10, 2026

In the second half of the hearing, Boller questioned Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon about online censorship of antisemitism and asked whether he would support censoring New Testament verses that portray Jews as killing Jesus or driving Christians out of the land.

The exchange prompted an audience member to call for Boller’s removal before he himself was escorted out following a warning.

Dillon said Boller misunderstood his position, arguing that antisemitism is not a platform problem and should be challenged through dialogue rather than censorship.

Dillon said Candace Owens claimed people blackmailed Kirk before his death so he would continue supporting Israel. Dillon alleged that those claims led to threats against his life.

“The anti-Zionists, the antisemites, will do everything they can to smear and destroy you and intimidate you and try to get you to shut up and go and become quiet,” Dillon said.

He specifically called Owens a “prominent and loud antisemite.”

Boller, who said she listens to Owens daily, asked Dillon to stop labeling Owens an antisemite.

“She’s not an antisemite. She just doesn’t support Zionism. And that really has to stop,” Boller argued.

Dillon said Owens goes “far beyond not merely supporting Zionism.”

“She calls Jews the Synagogue of Satan… she often uses the word Zionist and the word Jew interchangeably,” Dillon claimed.

“So do you think saying ‘Christ is King’ is antisemitic?” Boller asked.

Dillon, a Christian, responded that Christ is King but argued the phrase has been co-opted and abused by niche antisemitic right-wing groups.

Boller countered, suggesting that analyzing why someone says “Christ is King” is itself anti-Christian.

In a statement Tuesday, Boller reiterated her remarks and said she will not resign from the commission, arguing it should represent viewpoints beyond pro-Israel Zionism.

The commission, which consists entirely of Christians except for one Jewish member, was sued during the hearing by several multifaith organizations over its lack of religious minority representation. (RELATED: Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission Sued For Being Too Christian)

The Religious Liberty Commission did not respond to the Daily Caller’s request for comment.