FACT CHECK: Daily Beast Claims Josh Hawley Is Catholic

The Daily Beast reported Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley is Catholic.

Verdict: False

Hawley is a Protestant, according to multiple sources. The Daily Beast issued a correction.

Fact Check:

Hawley advocated for Christian nationalism at the National Conservatism Conference, according to Newsweek. After his remarks went viral, he doubled down on them, the outlet reported.

The Daily Beast reported that Hawley is an “ardent Bible-thumping Catholic” who “reiterated his Christian Nationalist bona fides for the conservative conference.”

The claim that Hawley is a Catholic is false. The New Republic identified him as a “devout evangelical Presbyterian” in a 2019 article. A 2018 St. Louis Post-Dispatch article reported that he was attending a Presbyterian church while he was running for Senate.

Hawley’s office confirmed to Check Your Fact that Hawley is not Catholic. Hawley quote-tweeted a tweet from American Moment president Saurabh Sharma, who identified Hawley as a Protestant.

Hahahaha https://t.co/QLN89Xrv6L

— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) July 9, 2024

The Daily Beast removed the claim and attached an editor’s note to the article after Check Your Fact reached out. The editor’s note reads, “Editor’s Note: This article previously referred to Josh Hawley as a Catholic. He is a member of an evangelical Presbyterian church.”

The article also claimed Leo and Roberts were members of Opus Dei, a Catholic organization established to “mission is to spread the Christian message that every person is called to holiness and that every honest work can be sanctified,” according to its website. Opus Dei is also a “personal prelature of the Catholic Church” that is “worldwide in scope, consisting of a prelate, his clergy, and lay faithful (men and women).”

It also states that Leo was president of the conservative Federalist Society. Leo was vice president and currently serves as co-chairman of the organization. Eugene Meyer is the first and current president of the Federalist Society.

Leo accepted an award from the Catholic Information Center (CIC) in 2022, which is affiliated with Opus Dei, according to the National Catholic Reporter. Leo also sits on the board of the CIC. Democracy Labs states that Roberts “has not shied away from speaking at Opus Dei’s CIC public events, and in partnership with The Napa Institute, linked to Opus Dei.”

Democracy Labs is a “project of the Tide Advocacy Fund,” according to its website. The Tides Advocacy Fund is a “left-of-center advocacy organization” that is “the sole 501(c)(4) social welfare organization in the Tides Nexus and focuses on the creation, financing, and consultation of various left-of-center organizations,” according to Influence Watch, which is run by the conservative Capital Research Center.

Brian Finnerty, the communications director for Opus Dei, said that “[o]ut of respect for the individuals’ privacy, I am not going to discuss personal information.”

“To check whether or not these individuals are members of Opus Dei, I would suggest that you reach out to them directly,” Finnerty told Check Your Fact in an email.

The Daily Beast removed all references to Leo after Check Your Fact reached out. The outlet also removed the claim that Leo and Roberts were members of Opus Dei.

Check Your Fact reached out to the Federalist Society and the Heritage Foundation for comment.