The pastor who delivered the inaugural prayer for President Donald Trump last year declared on Sunday that there should be no separation between church and state. During live coverage of the “Rededicate 250” event at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., Reverend Lorenzo Sewell joined Real America’s Voice to commemorate 250 years of independence. Host Ben Bergquam noted how far the United States has come since slavery and asked Sewell about the popular American principle of separating church and state.
Sewell’s Argument
“Well, Jesus was a politician,” Sewell responded. “Jesus was crucified for a political crime. ‘You’re no friend of Caesar.’ Jesus on his crucifix, it said that he was a king, right? So we’re a country whereby our founding fathers understood we can’t be a country that has a civil law without a moral law.”
His reasoning aligns with the Religious Liberty Commission, a federal advisory body established by Trump, which opposes the separation of church and state. The commission advocates for increased religious expression in public schools and more legal exemptions for religious practices.
Church Leading State
“They knew one was able to inform the other,” Sewell said regarding human laws and divine laws. “They would have never had this false dichotomy of the church and the state. They would have said, ‘No, the church needs to be leading the state.’”
In a promotional video for the event, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth stated: “Our founders knew two simple truths: Our rights don’t come from government, they come from God. And a nation is only as strong as its faith.”
Conservative Lineup
The conservative lineup also featured Secretary of State Marco Rubio, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), and Vice President JD Vance. In a pre-recorded message used last month during a Bible-reading event, Trump read a passage of Scripture.
Criticism and Backlash
Sewell last year quoted Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech during Trump’s inaugural prayer. He was called out by the late civil rights leader’s daughter, Bernice King, who said at the time, “I don’t deny the power of my father’s most well-known speech.”
“However, its power and popularity (with focus on its conclusion) have been misused to weaken its clear messaging about ending racism, stopping police brutality, ensuring voting rights, and eradicating economic injustice,” Bernice King wrote. “Why didn’t Pastor Lorenzo Sewell pray these parts of the Dream during President Trump’s inauguration?”
Sewell faced severe criticism on social media for his anti-church-state separation stance.
