Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stumbled over the word "anti-Semitism" in the wake of a Hanukkah stabbing attack in New York, and then a Fox News host changed the subject to violent attacks on Christians worldwide.
Pompeo insisted that President Donald Trump was serious about fighting global anti-Semitism, and tied that into a broader theme of religious freedom.
"President Trump has made a true pillar of America's foreign policy religious freedom, the right of each of us to practice our faith in the way that we desire to do so, and we work hard on this," Pompeo said. "We work hard. We've got a special envoy who handles any anti-Semitism issues, former (Kansas) governor (Sam) Brownback, who handles religious freedom issues."
"Fox & Friends" host Rachel Campos-Duffy then changed the subject to persecution of Christians, which she described as a bigger problem.
"We've seen over Christmas, you know, some horrific attacks on Christians," she said."By the way, the most persecuted religion on the planet right now. Beheadings, a village attacked and seven killed there, as well as the kidnapping of the young teenage Christian girl. But why are we seeing this rise in attacks, specifically for Christians?"
Pompeo couldn't identify the root cause, but agreed that religious persecution was a problem worldwide.
"As you've seen, too, around the world a respect for religious faith is something that governments have a responsibility to do," he said. "I've talked at some length about China and how it's persecuting over a billion Muslims. Leaders all around the world have a responsibility to protect their citizens and permit them to practice their faith, and so there are lots of different reasons for this. I've seen it in christian communities around the world. We have the responsibility, as the United States, to work diligently to help protect these Christians wherever we can as well."
