Liberals mock Trump's pick for secretary of agriculture because he prayed for rain once

Following President-elect Donald Trump's decision to appoint former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue to lead the Department of Agriculture, the only thing many on the left seem interested in is the fact that the Democrat-turned-Republican once prayed for rain when his state was caught in a devastating drought.

In November 2007, farmers were struggling. They were relying on irrigation water, and the restrictions put in place earlier in the year weren't working to conserve enough water. So Perdue tried something different.

The former governor, standing at Georgia's state capitol, encouraged people to pray to God for rain.

"I'm here today to appeal to you and to all Georgians and all people who believe in the power of prayer to ask God to shower our state, our region, our nation with the blessings of water," he said.

Though that happened quite a few years ago, it has not stopped some progressives from dredging it back up and mocking Perdue for it in the wake of his Cabinet appointment.

The Washington Post's Chris Mooney and John Wagner led their report about Perdue by noting that he "drew national headlines for holding a public vigil to pray for rain in 2007 amidst a crippling drought."

And Think Progress, a left-wing news blog, published a post earlier this month that highlighted the matter, with reporter Josh Israel alleging in a mocking headline that Perdue's "drought strategy" was prayer.

"Indeed," Israel wrote, "when Georgia suffered from drought during his second term in office, Perdue responded with a less-than-scientific strategy."

Among others, Pete Wells, a restaurant critic for the New York Times, jabbed the ex-governor for invoking prayer by saying he signed legislation restricting water usage "just in case" his vigil didn't work.

It is worth noting, though, as BuzzFeed News' deputy news director Jon Passantino pointed out, that the situation in Georgia did actually improve following Perdue's prayer vigil, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

Obviously, there is no way to know for certain if Perdue's prayer had any impact on the drought. In any event, though, it should come as no surprise that liberals and some in the media seem flabbergasted by Perdue's reliance on faith.

After all, New York Times editor Dean Baquet noted in December that the writers at the Gray Lady "don't get religion."

"We don’t get the role of religion in people’s lives," he said. "I think we can do much, much better. And I think there are things that we can be more creative about to understand the country."