A New Jersey Democrat declared that she had to stop going to church because she “couldn’t stand” being around so many people who had voted for President Donald Trump.
Rebecca Bennett, the Democratic nominee to represent New Jersey’s Seventh Congressional District in the U.S. House, told a supporter about her decision to leave the church at a campaign event in February. Audio of their conversation was obtained and published Wednesday by The Washington Free Beacon.
The audio begins with Bennett thanking her supporters for coming out and offering to take some of their questions. The first question comes from a woman who identifies herself as “a former progressive Dem, now a moderate” who is happy to hear Bennett describe herself as a “patriot” but concerned that others might hear that word and think she leans to the Right.
“I loved hearing you say that you’re a patriot, but what are you going to do about that being a right-coded way of presenting yourself?” the woman asked.
“I will say I use that word intentionally, and the reason that I do it is because, so, I grew up in the Presbyterian Church, and after Trump got elected, I stopped going to church for the first time in my life, because I was like, ‘I cannot sit in this room of people,’” Bennett, a former Navy pilot, explained. “At the time, I was stationed somewhere that was pretty conservative. I was still in the military at the time. I was like, ‘I cannot sit in this church full of people who voted for Trump.’”
“And then, ultimately, I decided they do not get to decide what Christianity looks like, and to me, it’s the same thing about [how] they do not get to decide what patriotism is,” she adds. “You do not get to wrap yourself in the flag while you are literally murdering Americans in broad daylight.”
