Last month, Christian nationalist North Dakota State Rep. Brandon Prichard appeared on a local television program called "Ladies of Another View" where he attempted to defend his Christian nationalism by spreading misinformation and falsehoods.
Prichard appeared on the program to discuss the criticism he had received in the wake of posts he made on social media declaring that every member of Congress must "submit to the Gospel of Jesus Christ" and that "every conservative state should put into code that Jesus Christ is King and dedicate their state to Him."
Prichard insisted that he had nothing for which to apologize because American history proves that his worldview is the same as the Founding Fathers.
"Here's the deal," Prichard boldly proclaimed, "history is on our side. History is on the side of the conservatives on this issue. The first thing that happened at the Constitutional Convention was what? It was Benjamin Franklin coming in front of everybody—he was actually one of the most agnostic of them all—and said that we need to plead to the heavens and pray for our country. And it was a Christian prayer; they had a Christian pastor come and say a prayer."
"As early as the 1980s," Prichard continued, "Ronald Reagan dedicated the country to Jesus and had a National Day of Prayer enshrined into our law."
"So, I think that it's crazy to suggest that that our country is not, at bare minimum, a Christian nation," Prichard concluded.
Nearly everything Prichard cited in support of his Christian nationalism is false.
As Right Wing Watch has explained before, while Benjamin Franklin did urge the delegates at the 1787 Constitutional Convention to pray for help in drafting the Constitution, it was certainly not the "first thing that happened" at the convention and, more importantly, Franklin's suggestion was ignored by the rest of the delegates. So no, the Constitutional Convention did not have "a Christian pastor come and say a prayer."
If the Constitution’s authors had wanted to require members of Congress to “submit to the gospel of Jesus Christ,” as Prichard believes they should, they had a chance to do so; instead, they banned any religious test for public office.
Furthermore, President Ronald Reagan never "dedicated the country to Jesus," whatever that even means, and the National Day of Prayer was enshrined into law in 1952 by President Harry Truman.
If, as Prichard claimed, "history is on our side," then why do he and so many other Christian nationalists keep spreading falsehoods in their effort to "prove" it?
