On Monday, MS NOW host Katy Tur moderated a panel in which she discussed recent, supposedly controversial comments by Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La.
“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?” she asked incredulously.
I’m just going to pause here and quote from this obscure line in the Declaration of Independence. And by obscure, I mean one of the most famous lines in the English language.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal… ” maybe Tur never got past that part, “that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”
So, the concept that God is “above” the Declaration of Independence is… in the Declaration of Independence. God’s law supersedes man’s law. Governments that deprive citizens of rights endowed by their creator without due process are bad governments and are possibly illegitimate. That’s the whole point of the thing, right?
One of Tur’s guests, Atlantic writer McKay Coppins, actually managed to answer her question with a straight face but with an acknowledgement that her audience may remarkably not be familiar with the concept of God-given rights.
“You know, I think that idea is not wholly uncommon, the idea that we sort of have unalienable rights that come from God can be read in a fairly benign way,” Coppins responded. “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.”
You don’t say.
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
Somehow this isn’t even the first time an MS NOW host or guest has expressed shock at the concept of rights being endowed by a creator.
In 2024, the now former Politico journalist Heidi Przybyla went on the network and said that the only people who believe in “God-given rights” that don’t come from the government are “Christian Nationalists,” whom she distinguished from other “Christians.”
At least Przybyla later sort of apologized for these remarks, calling them “clumsy.”
Saying that rights come from our creator should be one of the most noncontroversial statements an American could make, a concept universally understood by anyone with a basic understanding of our history.
Unfortunately, it’s not as universal as it once was.
Johnson weighed in on Tur’s comments, saying in an interview with Townhall Editor Larry O’Connor that it was “stunning” she didn’t know the concept of God-given rights was in the declaration.
The speaker of the House said that it was incredible that “someone who is in the mainstream media, on TV every night espousing her views … does not understand the birth document of the country.”
BOOM: @SpeakerJohnson TAKES DOWN Katy Tur…
"This is the MSNBC clip to end all MSNBC clips!"
"To someone who in IN the mainstream media, on TV every night, espousing your views who does NOT understand the birth document of the country…it's incredible!"@LarryOConnor: "You… https://t.co/qbXdKox0Nl pic.twitter.com/JUeCSaaiUU
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) May 20, 2026
It is stunning, but it is not surprising in my mind.
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