Carrie Prejean Boller

On May 1 of last year, President Trump signed an executive order to establish a Religious Liberty Commission to advise the White House on domestic religious liberty and opportunities “to further the cause of religious liberty around the world.”

It is, therefore, supremely ironic that the president has now removed personal friend Carrie Prejean Boller, one of the 12 individuals he appointed to serve as commissioners, for the infraction of expressing and remaining faithful to her religious beliefs—and specifically, for daring to speak out about Zionism and genocide in Gaza.

This is not the first time that Prejean Boller has been punished for not adhering to the “party line.” Back in 2009, as the 21-year-old winner of the Miss California USA title, she found herself at the center of a culture wars maelstrom when she held to her religious views that “marriage should be between a man and a woman” in response to a question about same-sex marriage. That honest answer eventually cost her not only her Miss California title but also a viable shot at becoming Miss USA.

In a recent interview with Tucker Carlson, Prejean Boller notes that Trump, who had a significant ownership interest in beauty pageants at the time, became a staunch supporter and friend during and after the pageant controversy, applauding her for sticking to her guns. The president has now stopped returning her calls.

Prejean Boller itemized for Carlson the series of events that led to her ousting from the Commission—from being pressured to resign by White House personnel and Texas Lieutenant Governor and Religious Liberty Commission Chair Dan Patrick, to being commanded to have Trump’s spiritual advisor Paula White vet her social media posts, to being smeared as “antisemitic”—and she makes it clear that none of the other Commission members have spoken up on her behalf. She explains:

“They put you in this box, and they shut the door, and they say, ‘Shut up, you antisemite. You’re not allowed in society. We’re going to shame you. We’re going to cancel you. We’re going to destroy you.’ That’s what they do…. They want to watch you get publicly lynched and then they want everybody around to denounce you.”

Raised as an evangelical, Prejean Boller’s deep study of scripture led to her decision to be confirmed into the Catholic Church, a religious milestone that took place around the same time as her appointment to the Religious Liberty Commission. And it is advocacy group Catholics for Catholics that is now standing up for her, having awarded her in March their Catholic Champion Award “in recognition of her courageous defense of the Faith.”

Referring to the last Commission hearing that she attended before being removed, Prejean Boller says, “The hearing might as well have been called the ‘you better be a Zionist or else’ hearing.” She emphasizes:

“Using Zionism as a litmus test and labeling those who do not support it as antisemites is not religious freedom. It is the imposition of a theological or ideological standard that violates freedom of conscience.”