The Church said that Robinson had not been defrocked, but that his license to serve as a priest in the Anglican Catholic Church "was revoked by Archbishop Mark Haverland." The statement goes on to say that "The representations on social media and in legacy media mischaracterize what happened and have been pursued by Robinson himself with an apparent lack of that charity which should be the hallmark of a clergyman’s public acts and statements."
Robinson, they said, "has not been 'defrocked' or cancelled." At the time he was ordained, per the Church, he was told that "overt political activity is often incompatible with the requirements of sacerdotal ministry. The expectation that such behavior is not acceptable by ACC clergymen was made clear." After Robinson's January 30 speech at the National Pro-Life Summit in Washington, DC, "Archbishop Haverland revoked Robinson’s license." This means he can serve as a priest, but not with the Anglican Catholic Church.
The Church goes on to say that while serving with the Church, Robinson "was warned repeatedly that his continued partisan political activity was inconsistent with his ministry." He was further warned that his license was at risk "because he was continuing to act as a political social media personality, and it was reiterated that such activity was inconsistent with priestly ministry. Robinson was aware that he was repeatedly disobeying legitimate episcopal authority, yet continued his course of conduct." It was the mountain of offenses, per the Church, that led to the revocation of the license, not just the one act.
Robinson gave the speech at the National Pro-Life Summit in Washington, DC during which he spoke about the potential fall of Christianity and Western civilization. “This is the last stand for Christendom. It’s make-or-break time. The whole of the old world is crumbling,” Robinson said, slamming European nations along with his home the UK, saying, “Every country in Europe is embracing death. America, as far as I can see, is the only country fighting for life. And that’s down to you guys. So God bless all of you for doing what you’re doing. Please keep doing it.” He then raised his arm as Musk had, as a joke.
"Today I received hundreds of nasty calls, texts, voicemails and emails today from very bitter, angry, vile leftists," Robinson said on X after the drama ensued. "They are often the very thing they accuse you of. I am not a Nazi. But I forgive you of your ignorance! My heart goes out to you!” He later said that it was taken out of context.
“The joke at the end was a mockery of the hysterical ‘liberals’ who called Elon Musk a Nazi for quite clearly showing the audience his heart was with them. Context is key, but sometimes people ignore context to confirm their own prejudices. People see what they want to see." Robinson said joke was misunderstood. “My attempt at dry wit, in that typical British way, was not a joke at the expense of WWII, nor an admission of my membership in the National Socialist Party. That would be an incredibly ignorant and bad-faith assumption to make.”
