ICYMI: Warnock Calls Out Trump, Vance for Using Religion to Push Administration’s Dangerous Agenda on MSNBC

Yesterday, Senator Reverend Warnock sat down with MSNOW's Jen Psaki to address President Trump's use of religion to push his dangerous agendas at home and abroad

Recently, President Trump has taken to social media, where he posted an AI-generated image of himself as Christ, attacked Pope Leo, and threatened to bomb civilian structures in Iran

During the interview, Senator Warnock referenced historical instances where Christian religious figures were on the wrong side of history, and urged today's Christian leaders to stand up in this moral moment

Senator Reverend Warnock: "We need more leaders in this moment to stand up and call us to the best in the human spirit" 

Washington, D.C. - Yesterday, U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) sat down with MSNOW's Jen Psaki to discuss several of President Trump's recent social media posts. In a matter of hours, President Trump shared an AI-generated image depicting himself as Christ, threatened to bomb civilian sites in Iran in a profanity-laced Easter Sunday message, and criticized Pope Leo for opposing his global policies, specifically the war in Iran.

"He's made the world less safe, and there couldn't be a better time for leaders of faith, for people of moral courage to hold power accountable if they don't want to be held accountable," said Senator Warnock. "If they don't want to hear truth being spoken to power, that's just too bad. We need more leaders in this moment to stand up and call us to the best in the human spirit."

Senator Warnock has been the Senior Pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, the spiritual home of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., since 2005. In 2024, Senator Warnock met the late Pope Francis, where the two prayed for one another.

A video link of Senator Warnock's interview can be found HERE.

See below a partial transcript of Senator Warnock's interview on MSNOW:

Jen Psaki (JP): "Joining me now is democratic Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia. He is, of course, the Senior Pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church. Senator, I've been so looking forward to talking with you. I think so many of us have just been trying to figure out how to digest what we have seen over the last couple of days, weeks.

"So, let me start by asking you. As I mentioned, you're still the senior pastor of Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church. When you saw that ai generated photo of the president of the United States depicting himself as Jesus Christ, what did you think?"

Senator Revered Warnock (SRW): "Truly, it's just one more thing. This man is not a person of faith. I think he actually has contempt for people of faith. I see some of my colleagues, clergy colleagues, lined up going into the White House, praying over him. And I don't I don't believe that Donald Trump believes in much of anything, that there's no real moral core. And religion for him is just one more tool in the toolbox of his project of dividing us in order to dominate us. My call is really to my clergy colleagues, these Christian leaders, when is enough, enough? Is there any line that Donald Trump can cross, any line that he can cross that would cause him to say, I'm done with this. Why are they so okay with this blasphemy, with this profaning of the faith, with this mockery of the faith? And so, I was deeply offended, but not surprised. I think that apparently putting his name on buildings isn't enough. He's now got to declare himself to be the Christ. To call this egomania is an understatement. And people of faith, leaders of faith should be the first to hold him accountable."

JP: "One of the things that I always enjoy when I talk with you is that you see your faith. You talk about your faith as a part of what drives you as a person who is in a position of power, of making policies and being a part of that. And there are a number of your colleagues also in Congress who can lead with their faith, too. They talk about that and how it drives them. Many of them, including Speaker Mike Johnson, have basically excused this post or said it wasn't being portrayed. He didn't think it was being portrayed as Trump intended.

"Why do you think there's such a knee-jerk need to defend what I think many people from many political parties across the country have found to be indefensible?"

SRW: "Well, you know, all of the commandments really are centered in this main commandment. And that is, 'You shall have no other God before me.' And I think that there's always the temptation to put something above your faith. And people sometimes do it in the name of faith. There's a long, ugly history to this. You know, it's not the first time Christians have been on the wrong side of an issue. Many American Christians were on the wrong side of slavery. I contend that slavery could not have lasted so long without the church.

"Dr. King's fiercest critics, those who are on the other side of the segregation debate, who were trying to somehow reconcile the irreconcilable Christian faith with human domination, with segregation over and over again. If you read the letter from the Birmingham jail, you'll hear Dr. King say, 'I'm so deeply disappointed in the church.' He said that 'As I drive through the South and I see these churches with their spires pointing heavenward, I have to ask myself what kind of people worship there? Who? He said, who is their god?' And so that's what I would ask those who are behind this Christian nationalist movement that we are seeing right now, which uses the faith as a weapon rather than a bridge, who really is your god? Are you so steeped in a kind of ideological and cultural identity that your heart is not really open to see the humanity in all of god's children?"

JP: "To that point, it has been used as almost a justification. And I know you've seen this. I've seen what you've said publicly, too. As for the war for other policies by the Republican party, I mean, in the backdrop of this AI post has also been this kind of fight that Donald Trump has picked with the current pope right now, which is just offensive and strange and bizarre. And as a part of that, the vice president, who is Catholic and has a book coming out about his conversion to Catholicism, said that 'Pope Leo should stick to matters of morality and let Trump stick to dictating American policy.' And I also just wanted to play for you something he said this evening. He was at an event in Georgia as well. But did you want to speak to that first?"

SRW: "I mean, just imagine this. He's a newly converted Catholic already directing and instructing the pope about how to be a good pope. The pope is doing exactly what he ought to do as a voice for faith. He is a worldwide leader of faith, calling us to peace, calling us to see the humanity in each other, hoping that cooler heads will prevail, and that the world will be safe for all of god's children. Imagine that, JD Vance. And why is he so comfortable with the president attacking the pope? If he's a devout Catholic, why is he so comfortable attacking the pope? Why is he making this personal?"

JP: "Why is he saying, stay in your lane, essentially, when popes throughout history have spoken to global events."

SRW: "This isn't the first time a pope has called us to peace. You know, I met with the last pope. Yes, Pope Francis, who was deeply concerned about the war in Gaza. And one of the things that touched me was that he said to me in our one-on-one meeting, that there was a tiny little parish in Gaza that he would literally call every night just to see if they were okay, because he had the heart of a pastor. And I think that it's interesting that in this moment in which our country and some in so many ways seems to have lost its way, led by an unhinged, unfettered man in the Oval Office who drops f-bombs on Easter Sunday morning while threatening to drop actual bombs on civilians, which is a war crime, which is inhumane.

"We have an American pope who I think in some ways is trying to be a good shepherd, and call us to the and the best in the human spirit. How dare J.D. Vance tell him to stay in his lane."

JP: "Part of what is also struck me, and I'm betting it has struck you even more so, is the use of God and religion as a justification for the policies they're choosing. And I wanted to play something J.D. Vance said tonight, because I know you've also become much more engaged and outspoken about the war as well. And I wanted to get your thoughts on this."

[…]

JP: "To me, it's saying, if you align with us and you're in the clergy, then you're right and you're speaking for God. And if you don't, then you're not. How did you hear what he said?"

SRW: "Look, this this is how despots and want to be despots talk. This is how fascists talk. They tell the people who are faith leaders to stay in your lane. You know, there were a lot of religious leaders during Hitler's Third Reich. And I'm not conflating our point, our date to that date. But I think the historical lessons are important. And most of the Christian church capitulated to Hitler. They became Reich Christians. They decided that the appropriate place for the church was in matters of personal piety. And individualistic morality and not to address these systemic injustices.

"Meanwhile, we were literally witnessing a human holocaust [on] their watch. And so I'm not about to sit silently while we see Donald Trump unleash cruelty on American streets. Masked men jumping out of unmarked cars, creating terror and destruction here on our streets, taking us, dragging us into this illegal war of choice that is creating death and devastation. Some 13 service members have already died. My heart goes out for those families. I've been there. I've stood there in at the Dover air force base. I've seen when those bodies arrive, the looks on those families faces, he's sending our gas prices up. He's made the world less safe, and there couldn't be a better time for leaders of faith, for people of moral courage to hold power accountable if they don't want to be held accountable, if they don't want to hear truth being spoken to power, that's just too bad.

"We need more leaders in this moment to stand up and call us to the best in the human spirit."

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