This 1-Minute Section Of Mike Johnson’s Public Prayer Is Disturbing Experts
Mike Johnson’s messaging “hides the truth that the United States — as we know it — could not exist without the massive wealth produced by slave labor and without the violent seizure of lands occupied by the indigenous nations occupying North America,” said Henry Louis Taylor Jr., an urban historian and professor in the department of urban and regional planning at the University at Buffalo.
Experts break down what concerns them the most about the House speaker’s message to thousands of attendees at the “Rededicate 250” event.
Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) takes issue with so-called “sinister ideologies” — and it seems to align with the Trump administration’s ongoing attacks on teaching the legacy of American history.
The House speaker, who led a prayer at “Rededicate 250,” a President Donald Trump-backed Christian prayer gathering held at the National Mall over the weekend, used language that one civil rights leader called an attack on teaching America’s legacy of slavery and violence. Other experts in Black studies, religion and civil rights movements agreed.
Johnson was one of several speakers to address the crowd at Sunday’s event, which was tied to the celebration of 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Many have slammed the Christian-centered event — billed as a “rededication of our country as One Nation to God” — as a promotion for Christian nationalism.
“Our Heavenly Father, we thank you. Thank you so much for this great day that you’ve given us here, as we remember that your mighty hand has been upon our nation since the very beginning,” Johnson said at the start of his prayer.
He then celebrated the signing of the Declaration of Independence, saying: “You gave our fathers the wisdom and faith to establish this new nation premised on the biblical and foundational principle that all men are created equal and free before you.”
After Johnson referenced historic events like the American Civil War and the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, he asserted that in today’s world, we “face a new set of challenges.”
He then went on to criticize “sinister ideologies” in a one-minute stretch that experts say was telling.
“In recent years, we’ve seen sinister ideologies sow confusion and discord among our people. We’ve witnessed attacks on our history, on our heroes, and on the cherished moral and spiritual identity of this great nation,” Johnson said. “These voices insist to the young and impressionable that our story — the American story — is one of oppression and hypocrisy and failure, and that this story can only be understood through the lens of our sins.”
“But Father, we reject that. We rebuke it in your name,” he continued, before adding: “Our rights do not derive from the government; they come from you, our Creator and Heavenly Father.”
Nadine Smith, president and CEO of racial justice organization Color of Change and a longtime civil rights activist, said that Johnson’s message on “sinister ideologies” promoted the idea of “whitewashing” history.
″[It’s] the familiar right-wing costume change: call honest history dangerous, call truth divisive, call censorship patriotism, and hope nobody notices the hypocrisy,” she told HuffPost.
To read the full article, go to HUFFPOST
By Kimberley Richards, on May 19, 2026
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