Cross posted to the MRC's NewsBusters blog
On Wednesday's Money, Power, Politics, MS NOW host Stephanie Ruhle fawned over liberal pastor Adam Hamilton, who is the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate in Kansas, and gave him a forum to portray the religious right as bad Christians.
Ruhle hyped the Kansas Democrat's chances of winning in solidly red Kansas by noting that the Cook Political Report moved its rating on the race from "solid" to "likely" Republican even though "likely" still means that Republican Senator Roger Marshall is overwhelmingly favored.
After Reverend Hamilton declared that he "loves" the MS NOW host, he talked up how he would like to push the Republican Senator from his job, leading Ruhle to respond approvingly:
REVEREND ADAM HAMILTON, KANSAS DEMOCRATIC SENATE NOMINEE: ... it's very important to me to be able to displace -- to help Roger Marshall retire. That's what I'd really like to do. He spends a lot of time in Florida when he's not in Washington, D.C. I'd love to help him just spend more time in Florida and -- and get back to doing things that are good for the people of Kansas.
RUHLE (laughing): I love your delivery. "I'd love to help him spend more time in Florida." How very decent of you.
After the MS NOW host asked, "How does your faith inform and interact with your politics?" Hamilton talked up the liberal interpretation of the New Testament as being pro-welfare and complained about Republican budget cuts.
Ruhle responded by teeing up her liberal guest up to trash the religious right:
Yes, I'm pretty sure I heard "blessed is the meek" somewhere. Here's what I want to ask you more than anything: You are obviously getting a whole lot of attention in Texas while seminary student James Talarico is now in a closely watched race -- he's a major candidate in Texas. Does your success and does James's success show that no political party has a monopoly on faith, and specifically that the religious right does not represent all Christians?
Toward the end of his response, he declared:
We just have to do better. I think people are saying we've got to do better. And I think people -- there are many people who are saying, you know, what we see in Washington does not reflect their faith -- 66 percent of Americans claim to be Christians. There's a lot of those who say this doesn't look like anything like the Christian faith.
At the end of the interview, Ruhle against gushed: "Your big D stands for decency."
Transcript follows:
MS NOW's Money, Power, Politics with Stephanie Ruhle
August 5, 2026
9:44 a.m. Eastern
STEPHANIE RUHLE: When you think about the big Senate races that will decide who gets control of the chamber, Kansas probably is not the first state that comes to mind. And that makes sense -- the state has not sent a Democrat to the Senate in almost 100 years. But this morning, the Cook Political Report shifted this race in Democrats' direction from solid Republican to likely Republican. That is because last night, Reverend Adam Hamilton won the primary.
Hamilton is a popular and well-known pastor who leads the largest United Methodist church in our country. He will face off against Republican incumbent Senator Roger Marshall, one of Donald Trump's most loyal and outspoken supporters. Adam Hamilton joins me now, the newly minted Democratic candidate for Senate and founding pastor of the Church of the Resurrection.
Reverend, I'm honored to have you here this morning. You were originally going to run as an independent. Now you're a Democrat, but your message is focused on civility, decency, and common ground rather than partisan politics.
REVEREND ADAM HAMILTON, KANSAS DEMOCRATIC SENATE NOMINEE: Yeah, thank you. First, Stephanie, thank you for having me on your program. I love you and it's great to join you. And, yes, I did think about running as an independent -- just in Kansas, 45 percent of the population are Republicans, and trying to figure out how to bring people together. But, in the end, yeah, I'm a Democrat. I, you know, the things that Democrats value, I value.
And it's -- it's very important to me to be able to displace -- to help Roger Marshall retire. That's what I'd really like to do. He spends a lot of time in Florida when he's not in Washington, D.C. I'd love to help him just spend more time in Florida and -- and get back to doing things that are good for the people of Kansas.
RUHLE (laughing): I love your delivery. "I'd love to help him spend more time in Florida." How very decent of you. How does your faith --
HAMILTON: I'm a pastor -- I really want to help him.
RUHLE: I believe you. How does your faith inform and interact with your politics?
HAMILTON: Yeah, well, right now in Kansas -- just as a few examples, 36,000 people had health insurance a year and a half ago don't have it anymore because of policies that Roger Marshall supported -- 10,000 children who receive SNAP benefits, which is $6 a day to help a kid who's hungry have enough macaroni and cheese and applesauce at dinner time -- and those were cut under Roger Marshall and so many other things. And when I read the gospels, you know, Jesus says, "I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty -- you gave me something to drink. I was sick, I was in prison -- you visited me. I was a stranger -- you welcomed me."
You know, he tells us to care for children. He tells us to love our neighbor. These are these -- are things that Washington, D.C., seems to have forgotten. Or at least my current sitting Senator is not practicing in supporting the policies we support and enabling the President that he enables. And so, you know, I want to do what's good for the people of Kansas and fight for them. And we can do better. We have to do better for the people of Kansas and, I think, for all the people across the United States.
RUHLE: Yes, I'm pretty sure I heard "blessed is the meek" somewhere. Here's what I want to ask you more than anything: You are obviously getting a whole lot of attention in Texas while seminary student James Talarico is now in a closely watched race -- he's a major candidate in Texas. Does your success and does James's success show that no political party has a monopoly on faith, and specifically that the religious right does not represent all Christians?
HAMILTON: That is absolutely the truth. The religious right does not represent all Christians. They don't represent, actually, even many evangelical Christians, but certainly mainline Christians are not represented by the views that they hold. And so, you know, I think there's a lot of people who just said, "I'm frustrated with what's happening in D.C." Even your last segment talking about corruption, and you look at that and go, people are saying, "This is just not right. This is not normal. This is not how we're meant to practice our politics. This is not how we're meant to act as human beings towards each other."
And I'll tell you this: I had a man in Holton, Kansas -- so it's a rural area in Kansas -- and he said to me on a -- on a campaign event, he said, "I'm a one-issue voter." And I was waiting to hear what his one issue would be. And he said, "Here's the thing -- I will not vote for anybody who doesn't believe we should love our neighbor as we love ourselves." And all I could say to that was amen because, you know, not caring for children is not, you know, taking them off of aid when they need it, you know, taking people away from health insurance -- that's not loving your neighbor either, as well as the way we talk about people, as well as the kind of corruption that's happening in D.C.
We just have to do better. I think people are saying we've got to do better. And I think people -- there are many people who are saying, you know, what we see in Washington does not reflect their faith -- 66 percent of Americans claim to be Christians. There's a lot of those who say this doesn't look like anything like the Christian faith.
RUHLE: Reverend, those neighbors aren't strangers. They are just friends we haven't met yet.
HAMILTON: I love that.
RUHLE: You know, Kansas -- me too. Kansas is thought of as a very deep red state, but I want our audience to understand it is not that simple because, last night, voters soundly rejected a Republican-led push to let voters pick state supreme court justices. This is seen as a huge victory for supporters of abortion rights. What do you want people to know about Kansas and their top priorities?
HAMILTON: Well, first of all, Kansans are decent people. They care about their neighbors. And so when it comes to, you know, what you saw in that election, that vote was, you know, and again, what we saw in 2022 when -- when the religious right tried to, you know, take away the rights for abortion in Kansas, a 60-40 split. And people are saying, "Look, this is not okay with us because we care about our neighbors."
And -- and it isn't that simple. In Kansas, we've elected a Democratic governor twice now, Laura Kelly, who's done such a great job. And -- and we find the Democrats in Kansas are the kind of people who want folks to work across the aisle. They're wanting people to say, "Look, I'm a Democrat, but I want to work with Republicans. I don't want to crush them. I care about them. I want to see how do we work together to do what's right for our country." And -- and -- and that's the kind of Democrat I am.
RUHLE: Your big D stands for decency. Reverend, thank you so much for being here this morning. I really appreciate meeting you.
HAMILTON: Thank you. I look forward to talking to you again, Stephanie. Thanks for all you do.
