Harmeet Dhillon, a Republican Party official and lawyer who’s worked for former President Donald Trump and the Republican Party, filing a series of lawsuits during the COVID-19 pandemic against stay-at-home-orders, closed the first night of the Republican National Convention (RNC) with a Sikh prayer.
The prayer quickly drew backlash from some Christians who called the prayer blasphemous and performative, though some Republicans also defended Dhillon for her legal activism.
“We recite the Ardas prayer before any new endeavor, giving thanks to God and asking for his protection and help to uphold the values of humility, truth, courage, service, and justice for all,” Dhillon said to introduce the prayer, adding that Sikhs cover their heads while they pray to show respect.
Dhillon recited the opening part of the prayer in Gurmukhi before praying in English for America, the American voters, and thanking God for protecting Trump during the assassination attempt over the weekend.
“This was embarrassing,” posted @CConnorMahoney on X. “America is a Christian country. We literally had an excellent Christian prayer before this that mentioned Jesus Christ. This was unnecessary, performative, and blasphemous.”
“How about you get deported instead, you pagan blasphemer,” posted Lauren Witzke, a former Republican Senate nominee in Delaware who’s also been involved with Hitler fan Nick Fuentes’ AFPAC convention. “God saves our president and the RNC mocks him with this witchcraft.”
Many posters compared Dhillon’s speech to witchcraft or devil worship.
“Ladies and gentlemen…please welcome Harmeet Dhillon on stage for a prayer…,” posted @s_zumock over a screenshot from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom showing a member of a Thuggee child sacrifice cultist priest holding up a burning heart.
But other conservative posters defended Dhillon, praising her achievements for the conservative movement, including the COVID lawsuits, her defense of fired Google engineer James Damore, and her legal activism against the University of Nebraska Medical Center over childhood gender transition.
Dillion was influential in the 2020 “Stop the Steal” movement, forming the Lawyers for Trump movement that filed numerous lawsuits over the election results.
“The vitriol, hate, mockery, derision, and general malice directed toward her is utter nonsense. She has had a spine of steel in taking on causes that other law firms were afraid to touch including COVID restrictions, Schools Transitioning kids, and the Medical Transition of minors,” posted @wokal_distance. “I’m a Pentecostal Christian, but I don’t need to agree with her faith to stand by the character of the woman.”
When Dhillon ran unsuccessfully for RNC chair in 2023 there was reportedly a “whisper campaign” against her because of her Sikh faith by some members of the party. One email obtained by Politico from Mike Lindell said that she was “Not of Judeo-Christian worldview … none of these core character positions aligns with the Republican Party Platform, planks, or conservatism in general.”
“the vitriol and hate from racists on twitter toward harmeet dhillon doing ardaas for trump is wild. really shows how america not ready for brown people in politics,” posted @thaBidnezz in reaction to the backlash to Dhillon.
But that conciliatory line didn’t convince everybody.
“Brown people belong in India, not America. This is a Christian nation. You blaspheme Jesus Christ,” posted @KyleSikh. “ Leave.”
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