On Thursday, President Obama spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast and drew some sharp criticism for his decision to draw a moral equivalency between ISIS and Christians, arguing that the acts of terrorism carried out by ISIS were akin to the Christian Crusades, slavery, and Jim Crow.

On Sunday, NBC’s Meet the Press addressed Obama’s controversial remarks with New York Times columnist David Brooks eagerly defending his comments and insisting that he was “totally pro-Obama on this. I think he said the right thing. Listen, it was a gospel of humility.”

The discussion began with moderator Chuck Todd wondering “is our political discourse, are we too immature to have this debate?" which gave Brooks the opportunity to promote the president’s attack on Christianity:

What sorts of people need a little gospel of humility? People in Washington, pundits, religious believers, I happen to be all three of those things. And so we're told to, we're told to walk humbly in the path of the lord, the lord's ways are mysterious and so you're saying we're prone to zealotry as Jon [Meacham] said we're fallen. And so to underline that that's useful in Washington today that's useful always.

Surprisingly, Andrea Mitchell, NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent, actually pushed back and argued that “you don’t use the word crusades number one in any context right now” before she criticized the president’s timing given ISIS burning a Jordanian pilot alive:

And the week after a pilot is burned alive, in a video shown, you don't lean over backwards to be philosophical about the sins of the fathers. You have to deal with the issue that's in front of you or don't deal with it at all.

As the segment progressed, Brooks continued to defend Obama’s speech and beamed that the timing was perfect for the president to attack the “self-righteousness” of Christianity:

I think this was utterly fine. This is exactly the moment you want to say this. We're at the most moral danger to ourselves when we're caught up in a righteous fervor against an evil foe which is what we have. And so, while we exercise hard power we have to take morally hazardous action, or we can be prone to get caught up in our own self-righteousness.

For her part, Andrea Mitchell slapped down Brooks defense of Obama and concluded her remarks by insisting that the president made a poor decision during his speech:

It’s so out of context, and it is so much in passing. If you're giving a major speech about theology, perhaps. But this is the prayer breakfast. And remember, you know, the context of that is very limited.

See relevant transcript below.