Presidential candidates still won’t condemn pastor who calls for gays to be KILLED
Republicans Presidential candidates are still refusing to condemn a pastor who called for gay people to be put to death at an event they attended.
Presidential hopefuls Ted Cruz, Bobby Jindal and Mike Huckabee all attended a ‘National Religious Liberties Conference’ earlier this month, where extremist pastor Kevin Swanson called for gays to be put to death.
Cruz was challenged about the pastor’s views in advance and declined to condemn him – but Swanson repeated his comments at the event, advocating the Biblical death penalty for homosexuals.
In a speech, he shouted: “Yes, Leviticus calls for the death penalty for homosexuals! Yes, the Apostle Paul does say that homosexuals are worthy of death! His words, not mine, and [screaming] I AM NOT ASHAMED! I am not ashamed of the truth of the word of God!”
Also at the event, Swanson called for children to be drowned rather than allowed to read Harry Potter.
However, despite over a week since the widely-publicised comments and repeated calls from campaigners and media outlets, none of the three Republicans have spoken out to condemn Swanson.
Incredibly, when played a video of Swanson calling for gays to be killed by the Des Moines Register, Huckabee’s spokesperson declined to condemn it or apologise, responding: “Gov. Huckabee appreciated the opportunity to speak with an audience in Iowa about the importance of standing up for our religious liberties.”
Meanwhile, Cruz has not uttered a word to condemn the pastor’s teachings or apologise for attending. Jindal, who suspended his campaign yesterday over his flatlining poll ratings, has similarly been silent.
Some defenders of the trio initially suggested they were unaware of the pastor’s record, his extreme anti-gay beliefs have long been public.
PinkNews has covered stories about Swanson for several years, including when he said supporting gay people was like axe murder, and blamed “homosexual activity” for flooding in Colorado.
Watch Rachel Maddow’s NBC segment on the event below:
