Ex-Miss California Carrie Prejean Boller contests her removal from WH religious liberty panel

Former Miss California Carrie Prejean Boller has been removed from the White House Religious Liberty Commission after a tense hearing on antisemitism that sparked a wave of conservative and Catholic responses.

The decision, announced this week by commission chair and Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, follows a panel session Monday that became contentious when Prejean Boller pressed witnesses on issues related to Israel and antisemitism. 

Patrick described her conduct as an attempt to use the hearing to advance her own viewpoints.

Prejean Boller, who gained national prominence after her 2009 Miss California USA title, had appeared at the hearing wearing a Palestinian flag pin and challenged panel testimony by asking whether criticism of Israel should be equated with antisemitism.

Her remarks drew sharp reactions from several conservative Catholic leaders and commentators who welcomed her departure from the advisory body.

Prominent Catholic organizations criticized her characterization of Catholic views toward Zionism and her conduct during the session. Some conservative commentators also took to social media to condemn her appearance at the hearing, arguing it distracted from the commission’s focus on combating antisemitism.

Supporters of her removal pointed to the importance of solidarity with Jewish communities and longstanding U.S. support for Israel, framing her comments as at odds with those principles.

Prejean Boller, a recent Catholic convert, has defended her stance in public posts since her dismissal, asserting that her views reflect her personal conscience. 

Prejean Boller posted a message Wednesday to Patrick on X, saying that the panel is Trump’s "Religious Liberty Commission, not yours,” and calling his action a “gross overstepping” of his role that aligned with what she described as “a Zionist political framework.” She vowed to attend the next hearing.

On Saturday, she criticized Patrick again on X.

"Hey @DanPatrick, why didn’t you allow any Jewish Americans to come testify at the religious liberty hearing who don’t support political Zionism? If you truly care about combatting antisemitism you would have had Jewish Americans there who don’t support your political Zionist agenda which hijacked our hearing," she wrote.