WASHINGTON — A White House Religious Liberty Commission member has been booted off the panel after going on a wild screed against Israel, antagonizing an individual who experienced antisemitism at Harvard, and defending pundit Candace Owens during an off-the-rails Monday meeting.
Carrie Prejean Boller, who became a confirmed Catholic last year and wore a Palestinian flag pin, is accused of hijacking the meeting about combating antisemitism by frequently interrupting the conversation with screeds against Zionism.
“Are you willing to condemn what Israel has done in Gaza?” Prejean Boller pressed activist Shabbos Kestenbaum, who recounted experiencing antisemitism at Harvard. “You won’t condemn that? Just on the record.”
She also battled with The Babylon Bee Founder and CEO Seth Dillon, who is a Christian, over whether Candace Owens is antisemitic.
“She’s not an antisemite. She just doesn’t support Zionism,” Prejean Boller contended.
Dillon argued that Owens goes far beyond opposition to Zionism, pointing out how she has used the words “Jew” and “Zionist” interchangeably and referenced how she once suggested that Israel “is the Synagogue of Satan.”
“Do you think anything Candace has said is antisemitic?” he asked her.
“No, I don’t,” Prejean Boller replied.
Calls to boot her from the panel that President Trump established in May of last year quickly grew after her highly combative demeanor at the commission meeting on Monday, drawing a rebuke from the Wall Street Journal editorial board and more.
“No member of the Commission has the right to hijack a hearing for their own personal and political agenda on any issue,” the commission’s chair, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R), posted on Wednesday, announcing she was getting kicked off the panel.
“This is clearly, without question, what happened Monday in our hearing on antisemitism in America,” he continued, announcing he was kicking her off the panel. “This was my decision.”
Prejean Boller, a model who previously served as Miss California USA in 2009, had gone viral at the time for declaring that “a marriage should be between a man and a woman,” which was the popular position in the US at the time.
Ultimately, she was stripped of her Miss California USA title, something she blamed on her opposition to gay marriage. She refused to apologize for her position at the time.
After the chaotic Monday meeting, Prejean Boller goaded the Trump administration into booting her from the panel.
“I dare them to fire me. It will only prove my point. Zionist supremacy on full display. Bring it on,” she posted on X in response to right-wing pundit Laura Loomer claiming that a State Department official wanted her fired.
After Patrick’s announcement that she had been sacked, Prejean Boller reposted Owen’s defense. She claimed to have watched Owens’ podcast every day.
“Carrie didn’t hijack anything,” Owens said on X. “You hosted a performative Zionist hearing meant to neuter the Christian faith. Carrie spoke truth, as a Catholic, and Christians, the Truth cannot be defeated.”
The commission has finished five hearings, with another two planned, and intends to present a report to the president in the spring about the state of religious liberty in the US.
“Under the Biden Administration, Americans of all faiths had their religious liberty not only stolen from them but were often punished for standing up for their faith, in education, the military, the private sector, and even the ministry,” Patrick added.
“The President respects all faiths. He believes that all Americans have a right to receive the great inheritance given to them by our founding fathers in the First Amendment.”
