Heidi Przybyla, a Politico correspondent, apologized for her remarks criticizing “Christian nationalists” which went viral after an MSNBC appearance.
Initially defiant, she later clarified her stance, distinguishing between Christianity and Christian Nationalism.
“Due to some clumsy words, I was interpreted by some people as making arguments that are quite different from what I believe,” Przybyla wrote.
She expressed regret for imprecise language and denied bias against religion in her reporting.
“Excerpts of what I said were promoted widely in some political circles by some activists whose primary objection, I feel sure, was not my television appearance but my coverage in POLITICO about the tactics and agenda of political activists who subscribe to a philosophy they call ‘Christian Nationalism.’ Christianity is a religion. Christian Nationalism is a political movement. As I said on air, there is a big difference between the two,” she said.
“Reporters have a responsibility to use words and convey meaning with precision, and I am sorry I fell short of this in my appearance,” Przybyla added.
“To state the obvious, the above is not a good definition of Christian Nationalism. Many people have views about our rights as Americans that would coincide with those of many of our nation’s founders. In my full remarks, I noted that many other individuals and groups on all sides of the political equation have cited natural law, including the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who invoked the concept in his fight for civil rights. But, of course, the question of which policies and rights and values can be ascribed to natural law is in the eyes of the beholder,” she said.
“Those who complain must recognize that in a pluralistic society people on the other side of policy debates have religious or idealistic convictions every bit as sincere as their own. Neither side should try to assert that they have unique insight to represent God’s will, or that the other side is in opposition to that will,” Przybyla added.
Following criticism from Christian groups, she addressed the issue of Christian nationalism in GOP politics, highlighting the belief in rights coming from God.
Critics referenced the Declaration of Independence in response to her comments.
“The base of the Republican Party has shifted, right?” Przybyla said. “Remember when Trump ran in 2016, a lot of the mainline evangelicals wanted nothing to do with the divorced, you know, real estate mogul who had cheated on his wife with a porn star and all of that. So what happened was he was surrounded by this more extremist element. They’re gonna hear words like ‘Christian nationalism,’ like the ‘New Apostolic reformation.’ These are groups that you should get very, very schooled on because they have a lot of power in Trump’s circle.”
“The thing that unites them as Christian nationalists – not Christians, by the way, because Christian nationalist is very different – is that they believe that our rights as Americans, as all human beings, don’t come from any earthly authority. They don’t come from Congress, they don’t come from the Supreme Court. They come from God. The problem with that is that they are determining – man, men, it is men are determining what God is telling them,” Przybyla said.
“And in the past, that so-called natural law is, you know, it’s a pillar of Catholicism, for instance. It has been used for good in social justice campaigns, Martin Luther King evoked it in talking about civil rights, but now you have an extremist element of conservative Christians who say that this applies specifically to issues including abortion, gay marriage, and it’s going much further than that,” she added.
