Removal from the president’s Religious Liberty Commission was only the beginning of fireworks for a former beauty pageant contestant accused of hijacking the panel for Hamas sympathy.
Last week, President Donald Trump’s commission to advise the White House Faith Office and Domestic Policy Council held its fifth hearing. During the proceeding, Carrie Prejean Boller’s vocalized positions against Israel during a panel discussing antisemitism resulted in her removal as she claimed victimhood, and earned little sympathy from Catholics disassociating the Church from her views as a recent convert.
The morning after the hearing, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, chair of the commission, took to X to remind about the president’s respect for “all faiths,” as he announced, “Carrie Prejean Boller has been removed from President Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission. No member of the Commission has the right to hijack a hearing for their own personal and political agenda on any issue. This is clearly, without question, what happened Monday in our hearing on antisemitism in America. This was my decision.”
Carrie Prejean Boller has been removed from President Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission. No member of the Commission has the right to hijack a hearing for their own personal and political agenda on any issue. This is clearly, without question, what happened Monday in our…
— Dan Patrick (@DanPatrick) February 11, 2026
Boller was heavily criticized for her posture on Zionism, especially for asserting that her position as a recent Catholic convert was somehow representative of the Church writ large.
“I am a Catholic, and Catholics don’t embrace Zionism,” she said before positing to Rabbi Ari Berman, “So are all Catholics antisemites according to you?” While she wasn’t wearing it at the beginning of the hearing, the former beauty pageant contestant opted to adorn herself with a pin bearing both the American flag and the red, black, white, and green standard adopted by the Palestine Liberation Organization later in the hearing.
“Since we’ve mentioned Israel a total of 17 times, are you willing to condemn what Israel has done in Gaza?” she asked at one point, citing Gaza Health Ministry data that claimed 70,000 deaths in Gaza since Israel’s counteroffensive in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack.
A former White House official from the Trump administration told Fox News Digital, “Carrie Prejean was thrown off the Religious Liberty Commission, and thank God. These commissions exist to advance the President’s agenda, not to serve as a personal Jew-hating platform.”
In the wake of her removal, Boller repeatedly asserted that Patrick had no authority to do so, deeming herself “equal” to the chair and claiming victimhood while insisting, “Only the President can. It’s time Dan be held accountable for attempting to remove a commissioner for my religious beliefs.”
Dan Patrick @DanPatrick did not appoint me and has no authority to remove me from the Religious Liberty Commission. Only the President can. It’s time Dan be held accountable for attempting to remove a commissioner for my religious beliefs.
— Carrie Prejean Boller (@CarriePrejean1) February 16, 2026
Meanwhile, the commission includes Cardinal Timothy Dolan and Bishop Robert Barron in addition to advisory board members, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, Bishop Thomas Paprocki, Bishop Kevin Rhoades, Father Thomas Ferguson, and Catholic scholar Ryan T. Anderson.
Anderson pointed to Boller’s citation of fellow Catholic scholar Scott Hahn on the faith not requiring belief in Zionism as a “fulfillment of biblical prophecy.”
“That is vastly different than saying that the modern nation state of Israel does not have a right to exist,” he stated. “And I think we need to highlight that distinction.”
Long-time Catholic scholar @RyanTAnd: “We don’t think anyone needs to think that modern day Israel is a fulfillment of biblical prophecy. That is vastly different than saying that the modern nation state of Israel does not have a right to exist.”pic.twitter.com/KhZW2rTROF
— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) February 11, 2026
In his own statement on Boller’s removal, Catholic League President Bill Donohue argued, “Prejean Boller is a former Miss California and a convert to Catholicism. She does not run a Catholic organization, has no Catholic credentials as an author or instructor, and indeed represents no one but herself. For her to say, without qualification, that ‘Catholics do not embrace Zionism,’ is presumption and arrogant.”
“Zionism is a movement that promotes Jewish self-determination in a homeland. There are millions of Catholics like myself who, even if they do not identify themselves as Zionists, recognize the Jewish state of Israel. Prejean Boller apparently does not–she is more comfortable showing up at the Religious Liberty Commission wearing a Palestinian flag pin. So telling.”
Meanwhile, as Boller had an online spat with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R) who posted, “Let’s be clear: it was President Trump who fired her,” Holy See Press Office accredited investigative journalist Bree A. Dail shared a clip of Pope Benedict XVI stating Israel’s right to exist with the caption, “Acolytes are meant to remain silent and submit to further teaching within the Church…for at least two years. You should abide by this tradition, Carrie.”
Acolytes are meant to remain silent and submit to further teaching within the Church…for at least two years.
You should abide by this tradition, Carrie. pic.twitter.com/hiC3bMqyQ5
— Bree A Dail (@breeadail) February 12, 2026
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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