[donna]

“I don’t believe we need to act like Old Testament heretics,” he said

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means:

her·e·tic

1. a professed believer who maintains religious opinions contrary to those accepted by his or her church or rejects doctrines prescribed by that church.

[TheGunny]

He is the “heretic” or the unbeliever, either way, lets not cast our pearls before swine!

[newzjunkey]

Maybe you and others deliberately misinterpret what he's saying by following the the WA Times editorialized headline?

The Media would never try to sow seeds of discord among the GOP and its natural allies. /s