Faith

Harmeet Dhillon breaks her silence on critics who mocked her Sikh prayer at the RNC

Washington • November 10, 2026 • By Press Pass USA

Harmeet Dhillon gives a benediction at the end of the first day of the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP via Getty Images

Former Justice Department civil rights chief Harmeet Dhillon said she will no longer stay silent about two years of attacks on her Sikh prayer at the 2024 Republican National Convention, invoking her late husband and the First Amendment in a blunt public response days after leaving the Trump administration.

Dhillon, who resigned last week as assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division, posted on X on Sunday, November 8, in response to a resurfaced viral clip of podcaster Nick Fuentes expressing disgust at her prayer to Waheguru, the Sikh name for God, during the convention in 2024.

"My husband watched me pray in our Sikh faith at the RNC — and one of our last text messages before he died a couple of weeks later was telling me he was so proud of me," Dhillon wrote. "He was supposed to be there, but he was also dying from two serious illnesses, and he could not make it at the last minute. Our medical staff at home took care of him while he watched me pray in our faith tradition — just as we did at home daily over each meal."

"All you trash who have denigrated my prayer to the ONE GOD many faiths believe in, deeply hurt me for the last two years, but I could not comment back because I was part of a campaign and then confirmation/administration. It's over. I won't be silent any longer," she continued. "Go read the First Amendment and my extensive record on behalf of ALL people of faith in America. For 34 years. And then let's measure our respective records on religious liberty. I welcome all comers who think they can prove they did more than I did for ALL people of faith in this country. There are none. I intend to keep fighting for ALL people of faith in America for the rest of my life. But I won't hide my own faith for one second. It's protected by our Constitution."

Dhillon delivered the benediction on the opening day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on July 15, 2024, reciting the Ardas, a traditional Sikh prayer, and invoking Waheguru as "our one true God." The prayer drew backlash from some conservative and Christian commentators, who questioned a non-Christian prayer at the convention. Calvin Robinson, a priest in the self-styled English Catholic Church, praised her legal work at the time but called the prayer "entirely inappropriate." In a 2024 interview, Dhillon likened those offended by her prayer to antisemites, saying the Republican National Committee had been "fully supportive" of her praying in 2016 and 2024.

The dispute flared again over the weekend after Alex Stone, a Christian podcaster who attended the 2024 convention, posted that he was appalled by how many people at the convention showed reverence during her prayer. "No one prayed along, you fool. They showed respect for one of the faiths Americans practice," Dhillon replied. "And in case you haven't noticed, winning elections is a matter of addition, not subtraction."

Dhillon's resignation was announced on Thursday, November 5, by Attorney General Todd Blanche, making her the first senior official to leave the administration after Democrats swept both chambers of Congress in last week's midterm elections. She said she had decided to leave weeks earlier but was asked by White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles to stay until after the vote, and she plans to return to private legal practice.

The argument over her prayer comes as the party debates the place of diverse faiths in the Republican coalition after the midterm losses, which included a sharp drop in support among evangelical voters. Family Research Council President Tony Perkins recently said Christians cannot take for granted that the Republican Party will continue to represent their biblical values.

Sikhism, founded by Guru Nanak in the Punjab region of South Asia in the late 15th century, is a monotheistic faith and the world's fifth-largest religion, with roughly 25 to 30 million followers. Sikhs believe Waheguru to be the distinctive name of the Supreme Being, as Yahweh is in Judaism and Allah is in Islam.

Sources: The Christian Post, "Harmeet Dhillon calls detractors 'trash' for mocking Sikh prayer" (Nov. 10, 2026); The Associated Press, "Harmeet Dhillon exits after radical overhaul of Justice Department's Civil Rights Division" (Nov. 5, 2026).