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Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) called in to Glenn Beck's radio show, and made this claim, among others:

[T]he U.S Commission on Civil Rights says that Christians are the biggest hate group threat in America, in essence...

Video via Right Wing Watch.

I went to the website of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and couldn't find anything relating to this statement. Various Google searches just lead back to the RWW post and other re-posts. Is there anyone familiar with the USCCR who knows what this claim is based on?

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    Mar 7, 2017 at 0:28

1 Answer 1

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The key word here seems to be "in essence", ie it does not literally say that.

Gohmert is probably referencing this report, which points out (see also here) that "religious liberty" is often used as a code word:

Chairman Castro stated that, “The phrases ‘religious liberty’ and ‘religious freedom’ will stand for nothing except hypocrisy so long as they remain code words for discrimination, intolerance, racism, sexism, homophobia, Islamophobia or any form of intolerance.” He went on to declare that “today, as in past, religion is being used as both a weapon and a shield by those seeking to deny others equality.”

Castro also specifically mentions Christian supremacy. The report does not however say that Christians are the biggest hate group threat.

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    Was going to comment about that weasel-word qualifier. "In essence" = "not at all, really" in the partisan political world. Mar 6, 2017 at 17:25

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