Bernie Sanders Attacks Trump Nominee Russell Vought because He’s a Christian

Everyone needs to read what happened today during The Senate Budget Committee hearing on the nomination of Russell Vought to be Deputy Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget. Here’s National Review’s transcription of a conversation between the nominee and Bernie Sanders:

Sanders: Let me get to this issue that has bothered me and bothered many other people. And that is in the piece that I referred to that you wrote for the publication called Resurgent. You wrote, “Muslims do not simply have a deficient theology. They do not know God because they have rejected Jesus Christ, His Son, and they stand condemned.” Do you believe that that statement is Islamophobic?

Vought: Absolutely not, Senator. I’m a Christian, and I believe in a Christian set of principles based on my faith. That post, as I stated in the questionnaire to this committee, was to defend my alma mater, Wheaton College, a Christian school that has a statement of faith that includes the centrality of Jesus Christ for salvation, and . . .

Sanders: I apologize. Forgive me, we just don’t have a lot of time. Do you believe people in the Muslim religion stand condemned? Is that your view?

Vought: Again, Senator, I’m a Christian, and I wrote that piece in accordance with the statement of faith at Wheaton College.

Sanders: I understand that. I don’t know how many Muslims there are in America. Maybe a couple million. Are you suggesting that all those people stand condemned? What about Jews? Do they stand condemned too?

Vought: Senator, I’m a Christian . . .

Sanders (shouting): I understand you are a Christian, but this country are made of people who are not just — I understand that Christianity is the majority religion, but there are other people of different religions in this country and around the world. In your judgment, do you think that people who are not Christians are going to be condemned?

Vought: Thank you for probing on that question. As a Christian, I believe that all individuals are made in the image of God and are worthy of dignity and respect regardless of their religious beliefs. I believe that as a Christian that’s how I should treat all individuals . . .

Sanders: You think your statement that you put into that publication, they do not know God because they rejected Jesus Christ, His Son, and they stand condemned, do you think that’s respectful of other religions?

Vought: Senator, I wrote a post based on being a Christian and attending a Christian school that has a statement of faith that speaks clearly in regard to the centrality of Jesus Christ in salvation.

Sanders: I would simply say, Mr. Chairman, that this nominee is really not someone who this country is supposed to be about.

David French, a 1st amendment attorney, points out that there’s not a shred of evidence that Vought has ever discriminated against a Muslim.  Also, he wrote that that Sanders is “not only imposing a religious test for public office in direct violation of Article VI of the United States Constitution, he’s gone so far as to label this decent man — who’s seeking to serve his country in a vital role — as ‘not someone who this country is supposed to be about.’ Vought expressed entirely orthodox Christian beliefs. There is nothing ‘extreme’ about his statements, and they mirror the statements of faith of countless Christian churches and schools across the land.”

An anti-Christian wave runs through the new leftist fascism.  (Note that Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen, also a Democrat, agreed with Sanders, saying that no one was attacking the nominee’s faith.)  This is dangerous and scary, and reminiscent of all previous Fascist movements.  Bernie Sanders, by declaring Christians are not fit for office or even for this country, is now the leading proponent of this anti-American view.

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