“He comes from a very good place”: Fox News anchor Shannon Bream praises bigot Robert Jeffress, will appear at his church

Melissa Joskow / Media Matters

Shannon Bream, a Fox News anchor who is part of the network’s “news” division, will appear at the church of Fox News contributor Robert Jeffress, whom she has praised as “such a warm person” and someone who “comes from a very good place.”

Jeffress has said that LGBTQ people engage in “filthy behavior” that “represents a degradation of a person's mind”; attacked Mormonism, Islam, Judaism, and Hinduism for supposedly leading “people to an eternity of separation from God in hell”; called Mormonism a “cult” and Catholicism a tool of Satan; and said 9/11 was God's punishment for the “sin” of abortion.

Bream, who hosts Fox News @ Night, is scheduled to appear at First Baptist Church Dallas on June 9, where she’ll be interviewed by Jeffress and sign her new book. Media Matters has previously documented that Bream has frequently helped push misinformation and used dehumanizing language about LGBTQ people and spread inaccurate information about abortion and related issues on Fox. Last year, she spoke at an event for the conservative Steamboat Institute and praised the GOP tax bill and said that Trump has been “rolling back regulations that we've heard from businesses, from the IRS to the EPA, have made it tougher for them to survive and be profitable in America.”

Bream was a guest on the Fort Worth, TX, radio station WBAP on June 5 to promote her appearance with Jeffress, and she praised him as “such a warm person,” saying, “I think that he comes from a very good place in trying to, you know, explain to the president certain issues that are important to the evangelical community, and I think that he’s been a sounding board for the president.”

SHANNON BREAM: He has been a frequent guest on our show. And he’s been very involved in a lot of things at the White House and being one of the president’s, sort of, religious advisers. So I’ve gotten to know him through work. And, you know, he’s just such a warm person. And I think that he comes from a very good place in trying to, you know, explain to the president certain issues that are important to the evangelical community, and I think that he’s been a sounding board for the president. And so we’ve had him on many times as a guest to talk about their relationship and to talk about, you know, the heat that many in the evangelical community take because people will say, you know, “How can you support this guy?” You know, he’s not perfect. The good thing is none of us are, but we’re saved by grace if we accept it. And so, you know, Pastor Jeffress has been a good person to have in those conversations.

Jeffress has a long history of anti-LGBTQ bigotry. He has claimed that gay people lead a “miserable lifestyle,” said that “homosexuality is perverse, it represents a degradation of a person's mind,” and claimed, “What they do is filthy. It is so degrading that it is beyond description. And it is their filthy behavior that explains why they are so much more prone to disease.”

He has also attacked other people’s faith. He’s claimed that Jewish people “can’t be saved,” and “religions like Mormonism, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism -- not only do they lead people away from from God, they lead people to an eternity of separation from God in hell.” He’s also stated that “Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Mormonism are all false religions,” called Mormonism a “cult,” and said that Catholicism is a “cult-like, pagan religion” and a tool of Satan.

Jeffress has also pushed toxic and inaccurate rhetoric about abortion. He responded to Disney’s threat to reconsider filming in Georgia if the state carries out its recently passed anti-abortion law by claiming that “they want to murder” and “are blinded by evil.” He also tied 9/11 to abortion, stating, “God will not allow sin to go unpunished and he certainly won’t allow the sacrifice of children to go unpunished.”

Jeffress was once considered so toxic that people like former Republican Gov. Rick Perry, Fox News contributor Karl Rove, and athlete Tim Tebow distanced themselves from him. Still, Fox News has given him a commentator job and the president -- a fan of cable news pundits -- consults with Jeffress, has said he loves him, and had him deliver a prayer at the opening ceremony of the American embassy in Jerusalem despite his statements against Judaism.