by René Marsh and Sunlen Serfaty on CNN

The Department of Labor held its first-ever prayer service for its employees this week, in a highly unusual move that mirrors an initiative at the Pentagon.

The service, which took place Wednesday morning in the auditorium of the department’s headquarters, included a speech by Yaakov Menken, a right-wing orthodox Jewish rabbi, who during his speech, disparaged gay marriage, transgender people and the fact that people use gender pronouns, according to two Department of Labor employees who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to press.

In a telephone interview with CNN on Friday, Menken pushed back on the characterization of his remarks as hateful, saying that he was instead advocating for “religious liberty” in the workplace and against employers requiring people to do things they say are against their beliefs.

Many employees were taken aback by the service, sources told CNN, and some felt like it should not be happening in a government building during work hours.

As with MS NOW, the depiction of Rabbi Menken’s comments as “hateful” is entirely false, inverting the reality. He was pushing back against the hateful people who would require others to violate their religious conscience and engage in compelled speech and even harmful actions. When they call left-wing media “Fake News” they are not exaggerating.