Cornerstone Pastor Matt Hagee apologizes for radical-right rally

Matt Hagee, senior pastor of San Antonio’s Cornerstone Church, has apologized for hosting a far-right political rally that made national headlines after one of its speakers proclaimed the U.S. should adopt “one religion.”

“Regrettably, the organization was not properly vetted,” Hagee said in a message posted Thursday on Cornerstone’s website. “It was not appropriate to allow this event at our church. The Church is not associated with this organization and does not endorse their views.”

During the “ReAwaken America” rally, Nov. 12-14, former Trump White House National Security Adviser Michael Flynn said that for the United States to have one nation under God, “which we must, we have to have one religion.” Viral video from the rally also showed attendees in the pews chanting, “Let’s go, Brandon!” The phrase, popular among the Trump-won crowd, is a code for “Fuck Joe Biden.”

After news of the rally broke, the church issued a press statement saying it wasn’t associated with the rally’s organizers and “does not endorse their views.”

However, additional video shot at the event showed Hagee, the son of church founder John Hagee, welcoming attendees and telling them he’s “proud” of them for making their individual decisions to show up.

“[B]y being here, you have made the conscious decision to live in your faith rather than die in your fear,” Hagee says in a clip shared on Twitter by pastor and author Brian Kaylor. “And I want to tell you how proud I am of that decision.”

In his online apology, posted two days after that video clip surfaced, Hagee asked for forgiveness, adding that, in the future, the church will make a better effort to ensure “organizations using our facility are an appropriate…