CNBC: USDA Secretary Sent Easter Email Touting ’Jesus’ and ‘God’, One Staffer Offended

Brett T. | 7:00 PM on April 09, 2026

It's hilarious that CNBC got its panties in a wad over a U.S. official sending an Easter greeting after a month of non-Muslim Democratic politicians sending blessed Ramadan and joyous Eid al-Fitr messages over social media. We didn't hear a peep from the "separation of church and state" crowd then, and we shouldn't have, because no one was trying to establish a state religion. Neither was USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins when she sent an Easter email "touting" Jesus and God.

USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins sent Easter email to staff touting 'Jesus' and 'God' https://t.co/7qvzv87747
— CNBC (@CNBC) April 7, 2026

Dan Mangan reports:

The email included an illustration of a round stone rolled away from the entrance to Jesus’ tomb, with the words “Christ is Risen” written above the image.
A USDA staffer who spoke to CNBC said the email was offensive to them as a devout Christian, and as a department employee who works “with people of other faiths, Muslims, Hindus.”
The staffer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were worried about retaliation, said other USDA employees also were offended by Rollins’ message.
“People are not on board for her sort of brand from a Christian nationalist perspective,” the staffer said. “It misses the mark from a lot of angles.”
“I find it blasphemous, actually, because it’s contrasting Jesus’ message,” they said.

How, exactly? The report doesn't elaborate.

Remember, it's not only how the media covers the news, but what it chooses to cover. An editor at CNBC thought this was important enough to assign a reporter to collect quotes from an anonymous staffer.