Democrats question House speaker's invitation of 'radical Christian nationalist' preacher

Feb. 16 (UPI) -- Twenty-six House Democrats have called out Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., for his sponsorship of a controversial guest pastor to give the House's daily opening prayer last month.

In a letter to Johnson and House Chaplain Margaret Kibben, House Democrats questioned the sponsorship of pastor Jack Hibbs, calling him a "radical Christian nationalist" who has "a long record of spewing hateful vitriol toward non-Christians, immigrants, and members of the LGBTQ community."

Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., who co-led the letter, argued Hibbs should not have been allowed to give a guest invocation because of his divisive preaching.

"After we picked our jaws up off the floor upon learning that this hate preacher had been allowed to give a guest invocation, I think many of us decided we need to start calling this out," Huffman told Roll Call.

Hibbs also has a track record of promoting the false narrative that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from former President Donald Trump, according to the letter.

In his opening prayer before the House, Hibbs used the phrase "holy fear" and called for "repentance" for "national sins," which Democrats said alludes to his track record of hate preaching against Jews, Muslims and LGBTQ people.

Democrats wrote in the letter that Hibbs' prayer violated the Office of the Chaplain's stated expectations for a prayer from a guest chaplain to be "mindful of diversity" and express "a common aspiration to a just and peaceful society."

Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt., who signed the letter, told the Hill she was "deeply troubled" by Johnson's sponsorship of Hibbs.

"As a woman and as a queer person, I want to feel like when I go into the chamber of the House of Representatives, I am not going to have to be exposed to someone that says vile, hateful things about other Americans -- that is not spiritual guidance, and I am a deeply spiritual person," she said.

In addition to Hibbs' incendiary remarks, Democrats also noted Hibbs' sponsorship flouted other existing guidelines. Hibbs, who leads Calvary Chapel Chino Hills in southern California, is not from Johnson's district in Louisiana.

"It appears that Speaker Johnson -- with the tacit approval of the house chaplain -- decided to flout the chaplaincy guidelines and use the platform of the guest chaplain to lend the imprimatur of Congress to an ill-qualified hate preacher who shares the speaker's Christian nationalist agenda and his overriding antipathy toward church-state separation," the letter read.

Johnson's opposition to anti-LGBTQ rights stretches back to the early 2000's when he published anti-gay op-eds. While in Congress, he has suggested schools are to blame for turning students transgender.

The letter asked Johnson and Kibben to explain why Hibbs was welcomed to speak in Congress in light of the chaplaincy's refusal of other guest chaplains, such as "nontheistic" chaplain Dan Barker from Rep. Mark Pocan's, D-Wis., district.

Huffman said he has yet to receive a response from either Johnson or the chaplain's office but is eager for an explaination.

"In terms of ... what he said and the full context of who [Hibbs] is, it doesn't meet the standards. So definitely Chaplain Kibben was either asleep at the switch or allowed something that should have been disqualifying under her own standards," he said.