MS NOW anchor Katy Tur drew swift backlash after appearing not to recognize one of the most famous lines in the Declaration of Independence while discussing House Speaker Mike Johnson on air.
Tur, 42, questioned whether Johnson was elevating religion over the founding document after he referenced the idea that Americans are born “with certain unalienable Rights” that do not come from government.
“They come from you, our Creator, and Heavenly Father,” Johnson told attendees at a government-backed evangelical prayer event in Washington, D.C.
“Is this him putting God over the Declaration of Independence?” Tur asked her panel on Monday’s Katy Tur Reports.
Atlantic writer McKay Coppins replied that the concept is common in American political history and tried to steer the conversation back to the broader debate.
“Well, you know, I actually think that idea is not wholly uncommon,” Coppins said. “I mean, the idea that we have certain inalienable rights that come from God can be read in a fairly benign way, which is basically that we have innate human rights that our constitution and our government, our democratic government, are meant to codify, right?
“That idea is not totally abnormal,” he added.
Johnson responded more directly Tuesday as the clip spread online.
“Wow. Newsflash to MS Now,” Johnson wrote on X. “The 2nd paragraph of the Declaration literally proclaims the self-evident truth that our rights come from our Creator.”
God talk is SO foreign to MS NOW. Katy Tur: What about this passage from Mike Johnson declaring that our rights do not derive from government? They come from you, our creator and heavenly father. Is this him putting God over the Declaration of Independence?
McKay Coppins: I… pic.twitter.com/sfpykN5bYc— Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) May 18, 2026
He also reshared a post from Newsbusters editor Tim Graham that read: “God talk is SO foreign to MS NOW.”
Texas Rep. Mitch Little and Sen. Ted Cruz piled on, too.
“How can @KatyTurNBC & MSDNC be so historically ignorant?” Cruz wrote on X.
“Someone run to the gift shop and get Katy a copy, pls,” Little joked.
The line at the center of the dustup appears in the Declaration’s second paragraph, where Thomas Jefferson wrote that men are “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.” The document, adopted in 1776, laid out the colonies’ case for breaking from British rule and has since become one of the most cited texts in American political life.
Johnson invoked the language during a national prayer gathering tied to the country’s approaching 250th anniversary, framing it as a reminder of the founding’s moral and religious roots.
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“You gave our fathers the wisdom and faith to establish this new nation, premised on the Biblical and foundational principle that all men are created equal and free before you,” Johnson said.
“Through Your divine providence, our Founders acknowledged and boldly proclaimed this self-evident truth: That every single person is created in your image and that we are endowed by you, our Creator, with our unalienable rights to life and liberty. The pursuit of happiness.”
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