Americans United denounces appointment of Paula White to ‘White House Faith Office’

Americans United for Separation of Church and State President and CEO Rachel Laser issued the following statement in response to President Donald Trump appointing televangelist Paula White to “lead the White House Faith Office,” which White says will work alongside Attorney General Pam Bondi to purportedly “combat discrimination against Christians”:

Televangelist Paula White is unfit to serve in the White House

“Televangelist Paula White was unfit to serve in the White House when Trump first appointed her in 2019 and she’s still unfit today – particularly in a position that could focus on combatting discrimination and advancing religious freedom for all. White is a Christian Nationalist powerbroker who’s spent much of her career operating in the shadows to influence public policies that discriminate against women, LGBTQ+ people and religious minorities, and the nomination of partisan judges who will support those harmful policies.

“This appointment is yet another example of President Trump pandering to his Christian Nationalist supporters and rewarding his loyalists. We can’t forget White’s role in amplifying the Christian Nationalist permission structure that led directly to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, delivering what experts called ‘an explicitly Christian nationalist and openly militant prayer.’ The potential for White to abuse this office to unconstitutionally promote or impose religion on the people is far too great.

“Trump’s National Prayer Breakfast remarks show that his administration is not attempting to further religious freedom, but rather to impose Christian Nationalism on us all. VP Vance reiterated this goal in his attacks on USAID, wrongly claiming that foreign aid is ‘spreading atheism.’ The American people – religious and nonreligious alike – deserve public servants who will work to ensure that we can all live as ourselves and believe as we choose, so long as we don’t harm others.

‘We the People’ don’t want Christian Nationalism

“‘We the People’ don’t want Christian Nationalism. We want freedom without favor and equality without exception. Americans United will not stop fighting alongside our hundreds of thousands of supporters until we get that. AU will be examining the formation of this office, the ’anti-Christian bias’ task force, and White and Bondi’s work – and challenging them when they step out of line.”