Catholic League president Bill Donohue on Wednesday joined conservatives opposed to a federal bench nominee who claimed there is no legal difference between the teachings of the Catholic church and those of the KKK.
In a statement, Donohue said he contacted the Senate Judiciary Committee about Michael Bogren, a nominee of President Donald Trump for the U.S District Court for Western Michigan.
"At that time, we called on Bogren to apologize for making an invidious anti-Catholic remark. He has refused to do so," Donohue said in his statement.
The furor erupted after Bogren defended a decision by the city of East Lansing to bar a family of Catholic farm owners from the city's farm market because they would not rent their property to those seeking a gay wedding.
In a legal brief, Bogren offered an analogy between the Catholic farm owners and the Klan, saying a Klan-operated facility could not invoke the First Amendment religious-liberty provision to avoid an anti-discrimination lawsuit.
Clarifying his position later, he said "from a legal perspective, there's no distinction" between the Catholic family pointing to the teachings of their church and a KKK member invoking Christianity, Donohue noted.
According to the Detroit News, Sens. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Ted Cruz, R-Texas, are asking the White House to withdraw Bogren's nomination for his comparison — and for exhibiting personal "hostility" toward religious faith.
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