I am going to guess that this gathering was primarily attended by evangelical Christians. And anyone familiar with evangelicals knows the biblical teaching of the great commission and the church as the body of believers, not as an earthly denomination or creed. I am going to guess that the source of the uproar is that he was once, but is no longer, a government official. The followers of Islam hold the same view, just with Islam as the one true religion which should be over the land.
Sounds like a free will and first amendment situation. He is free say what he wants to say, to believe what he wants to believe and everyone else is free to their opinion of it.
Lemme guess: it’s between the stuffed pasta folks (Raviolians) and the doctrinaire noodle people (Spaghetti Fundamentalists)? Meanwhile, the Order of St. Garfield (lasagna people) look on in bemusement. But not on Mondays.