Republican who was ‘too homophobic’ for Trump administration runs for Congress
Do you remember Mark Green, the Republican who Donald Trump nominated for Army Secretary about fifty-four scandals ago?
You know, the guy who was forced to drop out after vowing to “crush” transgender people?
Well, he’s back.
Despite removing his name from contention for the post of Army Secretary back in May over his controversial anti-LGBT views, apparently Green’s views are not too controversial for the US Congress.
Mr Green, who is currently state senator in Tennessee, announced today that he plans to run for a seat in the US House of Representatives.
The politician confirmed he is planning to run for the seat currently held by Rep. Marsha Blackburn, who is stepping down to run for the Senate.
The seat is solidly GOP-controlled, meaning Green will face little competition if he becomes the Republican candidate.
He said: “As a proven conservative fighter, I am ready to earn the trust of the voters and take my values and leadership to the United States Congress.”
A statement from his campaign claims that “earlier this year, Mark was nominated by President Donald Trump to serve as the U.S. Secretary of the Army, before withdrawing due to obstruction from Senate Democrats and attacks on his Christian faith”.
However, that’s not the full story.
Mr Green was forced to withdraw his name from contention by the Trump administration when a number of disturbing allegations came to light about his conduct, triggering opposition from moderate Republicans.
He is on-the-record claiming that being transgender is a “disease”, while in an unearthed radio clip he rants about trans people before vowing to “crush” evil.
Mr Green also described civil rights protections for LGBT people as an example of “tyrannical government”, and encouraged Tennessee to defy the US Supreme Court and deny gay couples the right to marry.
His comments are combined with a long record as a strong opponent of LGBT equality.
Mr Green was the author of a Tennessee bill that would grant businesses unlimited rights to discriminate without any action from state agencies, invalidating any non-discrimination protections.
He withdrew his name from contention for the post of Army Secretary in May after his record was made public.
He had said at the time: “It is with deep regret today I am withdrawing my nomination to be the Secretary of the Army.
“Unfortunately, due to false and misleading attacks against me, this nomination has become a distraction.
“Tragically, my life of public service and my Christian beliefs have been mischaracterized and attacked by a few on the other side of the aisle for political gain.
“While these false attacks have no bearing on the needs of the Army or my qualifications to serve, I believe it is critical to give the President the ability to move forward with his vision to restore our military to its rightful place in the world.”
The lawmaker’s nomination to the prominent role was opposed by a string of senior Democrats and had also been criticised by Senator John McCain, a moderate Republican war hero who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Senator McCain said he was “concerned” about Mr Green’s record when he was nominatted for Army Secretary, saying: “There’s a lot of controversy concerning his nomination.
“We are getting some questions from both Republicans and Democrats on the Armed Services Committee. I think there are some issues that clearly need to be cleared up.”
“Some of the comments that have been attributed to him obviously are very concerning.”
He added the troubling comments were “a broad variety — concerning the Muslim faith, concerning the LGBT community, other issues according to the comments he has made in the past.”
Speaking about trans people previously, Green said: “If you poll the psychiatrists, they’re going to tell you that transgender is a disease.
“You ask about how we fix it ― how we get the toothpaste back in the tube… I gotta tell you ― it’s going to start with me being the salt and the light to the people around me.
“If you really want to bring this back to who’s at fault, we got to look a little bit inwardly. We’ve tolerated immorality. And we’re reflecting light.”
GLAAD points out that in a funny (read: not at all funny) coincidence, Green is a supporter of another homophobe running for office.
Roy Moore, who is running for the US Senate in Alabama, is the most homophobic political candidate in recent history.
Roy Moore has been picked as the Republican candidate ahead of a special election for the US Senate seat vacated by Trump’s Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
Despite a string of controversies surrounding his abhorrent views about LGBT rights, Donald Trump has thrown his support behind Moore, who will go head-to-head with Democratic candidate Doug Jones.
It emerged today that Moore has praised the so-called ‘gay propaganda’ law in Russia, which outlaws speech relating to LGBT rights.
It was previously revealed that Moore believes gay sex should be illegal, confirming in 2005: “Homosexual conduct should be illegal, yes.”
Moore has also compared gay sex to bestiality, saying: “Just because it’s done behind closed doors, it can still be prohibited by state law
“Do you know that bestiality, the relationship between man and beast is prohibited in every state? It’s the same thing.”
It was also revealed that he has appeared multiple times on a radio show hosted by pastor Kevin Swanson, who is known for preaching that gay people must be stoned to death.
In a 2015 interview Moore himself refused to say whether he supports gay people being put to death.
The candidate formerly served as Alabama’s Chief Justice, but was ejected from the role after abusing his authority in a bid to block gay weddings in the state.
The disgraced justice had issued a string of orders declaring the US Supreme Court ruling on equal marriage “doesn’t apply” in Alabama due to state anti-gay laws, and ordered probate judges to enforce a gay marriage ban.
Moore fumed: “This was a politically motivated effort by radical homosexual and transgender groups to remove me as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court because of outspoken opposition to their immoral agenda.”
It was in fact because of his flagrant abuse of power.
