Over the weekend, Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, appointed by President Donald Trump in 2017, made a statement that drew sharp backlash from MAGA supporters. In remarks that critics described as a rejection of Christian nationalism, Gorsuch said the First Amendment reflects the nation’s founding commitment to religious pluralism rather than one race or one religion.

Speaking with PBS, Gorsuch said: “We were founded, a lot of our colonies, for our religious pluralism, right? And the opportunity to practice your own faith in your own way. And we were never supposed to be a nation that was about one race or one religion. It was about those ideas,” he said, referring to America’s founding principles of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. “And those things are perfect ideas that speak to every human heart and that unite us all.”

His comments ran counter to claims often made by Christian nationalists aligned with MAGA, including Vice President JD Vance. Vance has said, “Christianity is America’s creed, the shared moral language from the revolution to the Civil War and beyond.” Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, also said, “Across that history, our country’s major debates have always centered on how we could best as a people please God.”

According to The Hill, Gorsuch offered a different historical reading, noting that Charles Carroll, who was Catholic, signed the Declaration of Independence alongside members of other Christian faiths. He also pointed out that Amish and Quakers settled in the then-British colonies.

As Gorsuch put it, “We have a First Amendment for crying out loud. No established religion, everybody has a freedom of religion, everybody has the freedom of speech, we are all equal under law,” adding, “Now, you can not agree with those ideas, fair enough. Then we have a problem. But those three ideas are something all of us can unite behind.” His framing echoes a broader constitutional debate that remains politically charged because arguments over religious identity and the founding often surface in disputes over the court’s role, even when the underlying legal principles at issue are the First Amendment and equal protection under law.

The response from some MAGA figures was immediate and hostile. One Christian nationalist posted, “Wow — that is astounding historical ignorance!” and added, “I wonder what ‘Creator’ he thinks they meant in the Declaration of Independence?”

Another MAGA supporter wrote: “Our country is failing in every way possible because traitors to our founding and our nations principles are overthrowing it. Now Gorsuch just said that our nation was not founded as a Christian nation. Everything that could go wrong, is going wrong. The communists and overlords are extremely powerful and there is no one to keep us on track with our constitution and with American principles. We also have a two tier justice system and our elections are stolen so we are ruled by anti Americans. Sad times, and to think ‘our side’ is in charge.”

A third critic wrote, “Good job GOP ... Three picks, three sellouts, cowards and gibbering clowns,” referring to Gorsuch and Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh, who have recently drawn MAGA criticism for occasionally ruling against Trump’s agenda. The post continued: “Screw originalism, the whole institution is rotten and should be ignored.”

Yet another objected to Gorsuch’s remarks by writing, “Really[?] So in dollar bill inscription IN GOD WE TRUST is totally Islamic and Muslim,” followed by, “What ... plain imbecile human[!]”

The slogan “In God We Trust” was not placed on U.S. currency by the country’s founders. It first appeared on select coins nearly 100 years after the Declaration of Independence, and it was not added to paper currency such as the dollar bill until 1955.