TRUMP’S Religious Advisor Axed – Shocking Zionism Clash

(DailyVantage.com) – A Catholic appointee was abruptly removed from President Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission after she hijacked an antisemitism hearing to advance anti-Zionist views, exposing deep fractures within the conservative movement over Israel and religious freedom priorities.

Story Snapshot

Carrie Prejean Boller ousted from Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission on February 11, 2026, for derailing antisemitism hearing with anti-Zionist statements
Recent Catholic convert wore Palestinian flag pin and lectured witnesses about Zionism during testimony on rising antisemitism post-October 7 attacks
Commission chair Dan Patrick removed her for “hijacking” hearing meant to address religious liberty threats under Biden administration
Removal highlights tension between evangelical pro-Israel stance and emerging Catholic anti-Zionist activism within conservative coalitions

Commission Member Derails Antisemitism Hearing

Carrie Prejean Boller disrupted a February 9, 2026, hearing on antisemitism in America by challenging witnesses about Zionism and declaring that Catholics do not embrace support for Israel. The former Miss California, who converted to Catholicism in April 2025 and joined the commission in June 2025, wore a pin displaying American and Palestinian flags while questioning Jewish students and rabbis testifying about campus antisemitism. Her remarks shifted focus from religious liberty violations under the Biden administration to Middle East politics, frustrating commission leadership and witnesses who traveled to discuss domestic threats to faith communities.

Chair Removes Member for Personal Agenda

Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, serving as commission chair, announced Prejean Boller’s removal via social media on February 11, declaring that no member has the right to hijack a hearing for personal purposes. The decision came after mounting pressure from Catholic League president Bill Donohue, who had called for her ouster before the hearing, and antisemitism activist Shabbos Kestenbaum, who testified at the event. Patrick’s swift action preserved the commission’s mission to document religious freedom violations, particularly those affecting Jewish communities following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack that triggered the largest mass killing of Jews since the Holocaust.

Doctrine and Politics Collide Over Israel

Prejean Boller defended her position by citing Catholic teachings, claiming her faith prohibits embracing Zionism and invoking 1 Thessalonians 2:15 regarding Jewish culpability. However, Catholic League’s Donohue countered that she lacks credentials to speak for Catholics, noting the Vatican recognized Israel in 1993 and that the Second Vatican Council’s Nostra aetate document explicitly condemned antisemitism in 1965. The Wall Street Journal criticized her for lecturing a priest and fellow Catholic commissioners on doctrine despite being a recent convert. This exposes a troubling trend where personal interpretations of faith become weapons to advance political agendas that contradict established Church positions on Jewish-Christian relations.

Conservative Movement Faces Uncomfortable Division

The incident reveals fractures between evangelical and Catholic conservatives regarding Israel, with implications for Trump’s coalition. While Patrick represents the evangelical pro-Israel stance dominant in Republican circles, Prejean Boller’s anti-Zionist activism—praised by Candace Owens who accused the hearing of “Zionist bias”—signals emerging challenges to consensus on Middle East policy. Her social media posts declaring she will “never bend the knee to the state of Israel” and opposition to “Zionist supremacy” resonate with a segment rejecting what they view as conflating religious liberty with foreign policy allegiance. This raises concerns about whether legitimate criticism of government overreach can be separated from rhetoric that edges toward historical antisemitic tropes about dual loyalty, particularly when weaponized during testimony about actual persecution Jewish students face on American campuses.

Precedent Set for Commission Standards

Patrick’s decisive action establishes boundaries for commission conduct, reinforcing that members must prioritize the panel’s chartered mission over personal advocacy. The removal sends a clear message that religious freedom protection cannot be compromised by injecting divisive foreign policy debates into hearings designed to address domestic threats. Two additional hearings on Biden-era religious liberty violations remain scheduled, focusing on constitutional protections rather than international conflicts. For conservatives who value both religious freedom and strategic alliances, this episode underscores the importance of maintaining focus on defending First Amendment rights against government overreach without allowing fringe elements to hijack legitimate concerns about preserving traditional faith expression in American public life.