Member of White House religious committee removed for questioning Zionism

A heated exchange during a hearing on antisemitism at the White House is going viral this week after Carrie Prejean Boller, a member of a commission on religious freedom, directly challenged whether rejecting Zionism should be equated with antisemitism, resulting in her alleged removal from the task force created under the Trump administration.    

Dan Patrick, Lieutenant Governor of Texas and chair of President Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission, announced that Boller was removed from the commission on Wednesday.

“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,” Patrick wrote on X in a statement.

Later on Wednesday, in a statement addressed to Patrick on X, Boller disputed claims that she had been removed from the body, arguing that only President Donald Trump has the authority to dismiss presidential appointees from the Religious Liberty Commission.

“You did not appoint me to the Commission, and you lack authority to remove me from it. This is a gross overstepping of your role and leads me to believe you are acting in alignment with a Zionist political framework that hijacked the hearing, rather than in defense of religious liberty,” Boller wrote.

The White House Religious Liberty Commission is a federal advisory body tasked with examining threats to religious freedom in the United States and making policy recommendations related to First Amendment protections.

Clips of the exchange are now circulating widely online, drawing fierce backlash along with criticism of equating a rejection of the political ideology of Zionism to antisemitism. 

The tense moment during the hearing on Monday escalated when Boller asked: “I’m a Catholic, and Catholics do not embrace Zionism… So are all Catholics antisemites according to you?”

Addressing Yitzchok Frankel in the exchange, lead plaintiff in a federal lawsuit against UCLA over pro-Palestinian campus encampments that followed the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attacks and Israel’s subsequent war on Gaza, Boller questioned whether Americans can both oppose antisemitism and criticise Israel’s war on Gaza without being labelled anti-Jewish.

She asked whether someone can “stand firmly against antisemitism… and at the same time condemn the mass killing of Palestinians in Gaza or reject political Zionism?” 

The war on Gaza, deemed a genocide by the United Nations, has continued for over two years and killed over 72,000 Palestinians. 

Boller argued that the United States “cannot and must not” make loyalty to a particular theology about Israel a litmus test for protected speech. Her line of questioning focused on the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's definition of antisemitism and whether it risks conflating criticism of Israel with hatred of Jews.

Boller said several times that she is of the Catholic faith and argued that Catholics do not embrace the idea of a Zionist state, which many online are applauding her for. 

I'm glad Catholics were able to get it in writing very early not to support a political state of Israel. When you read the word of God in full clarity you realize that this is the position ALL Christians are supposed to take. https://t.co/YypybQqOvO

— ThatGirlCasey☄️ (@ThatGirlCasey1) February 10, 2026

Frankel pushed back strongly, framing the issue around what he described as harassment and exclusion of Jewish students during campus encampments.

He said protest is protected, but added, “They can protest… but they can’t block Jews.”

Frankel argued that calls for “intifada” emerged immediately after 7 October 2023 and insisted that the issue is not merely a political disagreement but a matter of religious liberty and equal access, which many online are criticising harshly, saying that Boller is showing the world what true religious freedom should mean.

.@CarriePrejean1 is a new hero. Finally someone stands for true religious freedom and freedom of speech in a room that would prefer to silence it https://t.co/Jv1jdi5Exu

— Brave Report (@BraveReport) February 10, 2026

At one point, Boller questions whether Zionism creates accusations of divided loyalty for American Jews. Rabbi Ari Berman, president of Yeshiva University, responded unequivocally: “Undoubtedly, anti-Zionism is antisemitism.”

Berman said individuals can oppose specific Israeli government policies, but denying Israel’s right to exist, while not applying that same standard to other religiously defined states, amounts to a discriminatory double standard.

Many online also noticed the Palestine pin that Boller was wearing during the hearing, and she was applauded for her stance. 

Wearing the Palestinian flag 🇵🇸 during a religious debate to show where is your moral standing in the genocide shows honesty, clarity, and clear high moral values. A new Boss. https://t.co/k3PiCq7ScV pic.twitter.com/rPuXw0pygk

— Hero Palestine 🇵🇸🫒 (@HeroPalestine0) February 10, 2026

Many online fiercely criticised this decision to remove Boller. 

Carrie dared to stand up for her religion.

She dared to stand up for free speech.

They called her religion “antisemitic”

And they cancelled her for her speech.

They proved her right.

We live under Zionist occupied government.

— ADAM (@AdameMedia) February 11, 2026

With Boller's alleged removal from the commission, critics are asking whether a body tasked with defending First Amendment protections has just sidelined one of its most vocal challengers.