Sen. Mike Lee warns of 'increased hostility' toward Christianity in Washington
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, believes that federal lawmakers have grown increasingly hostile toward Christians in recent years and some feel justified in discriminating against them to a degree unprecedented in United States history.
During a two-hour interview with conservative political commentator Tucker Carlson on the Tucker Carlson Network earlier this week, Lee answered affirmatively when Carlson asked if he noticed "this hostility toward Christianity increasing in Washington."
"I think there is increased hostility toward Christianity, toward organized religion in general in Washington," said Lee, who is a Mormon.
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While he said the Senate has "a pretty healthy culture" of religious toleration among colleagues, Lee has noticed unconstitutional religious tests for judicial nominees emerge during the Trump administration.
"I've started seeing a couple of things that are disturbing that I never thought I would see, just in the last few years," said Lee, who is on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
"I remember during the Trump administration, we started to see, for the first time ever, a couple of my Democratic colleagues, including some on the Judiciary Committee, who would say things like this: 'I'm not comfortable with this nominee because I fear that the dogma lives loudly within her.'"
Lee was referencing the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who suggested during Justice Amy Coney Barrett's 2017 confirmation hearing to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that her Roman Catholic faith would interfere with her ability to be impartial.
"She was afraid that she was too Catholic and because the Catholic dogma, as she put it, 'lives too loudly,'" Lee recalled. "I thought that was a little unsettling."
Lee recalled the time he confronted Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, in 2019 after she asked then-D.C. Circuit Court nominee Neomi Rao during her confirmation hearing if she believes gay relationships are a sin.
"I felt the need to weigh in at that meeting because sometimes we need to do that in order to set the record and to give the member an opportunity to pare it back," Lee said. "So I thought, I'm not sure she meant — I'm not sure she realized exactly how far she went in saying that."
Lee noted that Hirono remained unapologetic about her line of questioning.
Carlson, who said Hirono is not considered "a genius" by the outside world, questioned whether people like her are "self-aware enough to know that they're the religious fanatics."
Lee noted the apparent antipathy toward Christians who want to serve in government is unchartered territory for the U.S., which he noted has been historically Christian.
"Relative to not just the founding generation, but pretty much all generations of Americans until very recently, those who are hostile toward Christian beliefs or toward any belief system when it comes to somebody's worthiness to serve in government," he said. "That's historically aberrational. That's extreme."
"Culturally also, throughout most of our history, we have been a religious nation. We are still a religious nation," he added.
Noting how someone would not be able to get away with opposing a nominee for being too Jewish, Carlson asked how discrimination against Christians gets a pass.
"I really don't know, other than that the the media won't go after you," Lee said, to which Carlson replied, "Because they share the view."
Lee said he has personally witnessed President Joe Biden's decreasing mental acuity since his first year in office, including when he asked Lee's wife twice if she worked in the White House despite having met her before. He also recounted a time when he saw Biden appear too confused to take a phone call.
Jon Brown is a reporter for The Christian Post. Send news tips to jon.brown@christianpost.com
