MS NOW anchor Katy Tur draws backlash for questioning rights as God-given: 'Historically ignorant'

MS NOW anchor Katy Tur prompted backlash earlier this week for questioning an assertion from House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., that rights come from God.

Speaking during a panel discussion reflecting on Johnson's Sunday prayer at the Rededicate 250 event on the National Mall, during which he acknowledged human rights "come from you, our Creator, and Heavenly Father," Tur asked if Johnson was putting God above government.

"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?" Tur asked.

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

Panelist McKay Coppins, a writer for The Atlantic, replied, "Well, you know, I actually think that idea is not wholly uncommon. 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."

Coppins went on to express concern that some of the faith leaders who spoke at Rededicate 250 emphasized claims that spiritual warfare is manifesting through political battles, and noted some might be alarmed when "partisan politics is injected directly into the spiritual, biblical rhetoric."

Johnson himself pushed back against Tur's remarks, suggesting she was evidently unfamiliar with the famous opening to the Declaration of Independence that framed human rights as God-given and the government's role as a defender of those rights.

"Wow. Newsflash to MS Now: The 2nd paragraph of the Declaration literally proclaims the self-evident truth that our rights come from our Creator," Johnson said Tuesday in response to Tur's comments after they went viral on X.

Tur, whose transgender-identifying father, Zoey (Bob) Tur, famously threatened to send Daily Wire host Ben Shapiro "home in an ambulance" for calling him "sir" in 2015, also took flak from many others on social media, who suggested Tur lacks basic historical and religious knowledge.

"How can [Tur] & MSDNC be so historically ignorant? The Speaker is not putting God ABOVE the Declaration — he is literally QUOTING FROM the Declaration," said Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.

"This is why it's so important for conservatives to understand the nature of the founding documents," said Blaze columnist Auron MacIntyre. "Words on paper do nothing if the people don't believe them. Mike Johnson can quote the words of the Declaration but they mean something entirely [different] to the MS NOW host."

Conservative political columnist Marc Thiessen said Tur "displaying such sheer ignorance of the principles of the American founding is just stunning."

"Quoting the Declaration of Independence is now putting God over the Declaration of Independence, I guess? Someone run to the gift shop and get Katy a copy, [please]," said Republican Texas state Rep. Mitch Little.

Johnson's remarks about God-given rights came during a 10-minute prayer on Sunday that formally rededicated the United States as "one nation under God." The Southern Baptist speaker opened by acknowledging the hand of divine providence throughout American history, but warned that the country faces "a new set of challenges in a new era" from forces that seek to undermine its spiritual foundations.

"In recent years, we've seen sinister ideologies sow confusion and discord among our people. We witnessed attacks on our history, on our heroes, and the cherished moral and spiritual identity of this great nation," he said.

"These voices insist to the young and impressionable that our story, the American story, is one of oppression and hypocrisy, and that this story can only be understood through the lens of our sins."

"Father, we reject that, we rebuke it in your name," he added to applause from the thousands gathered on the National Mall.

MS NOW, formerly known as MSNBC, has made headlines before for airing doubts regarding the God-given nature of human rights. In 2024, former Politico journalist Heidi Przybyla apologized after claiming during an episode of "All In with Chris Hayes" that "Christian nationalists" are united by the belief "that our rights as Americans, as all human beings, don't come from any earthly authority."

During a U.S. Senate hearing last fall, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., prompted outrage for describing the idea that human rights come from God and not the government as "very, very troubling," while likening such a belief to the theocratic Iranian regime.