This past weekend, GOP presidential candidates Mike Huckabee, Bobby Jindal, and Ted Cruz spoke at Pastor Kevin Swanson’s National Religious Liberties Conference. Swanson believes that parents should drown themselves before they let their kids read Harry Potter, adding that he would cover himself with “cow manure” if his son got “gay married,” not to mention he believes the Bible orders that homosexuality should be punishable by death.
The year is 2015, and three presidential candidates of varying chances of success — one current governor, one former governor, and one US senator — not only attended this rally but spoke at it. The mainstream media has largely ignored this story, but MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow touched on it this week.
“This is a political event. This is a Republican presidential candidates event,” Maddow said on her show. “It really was a ‘kill-the-gays’ call to arms.”
According to The Huffington Post, Maddow also pointed out that Swanson’s views on homosexuality were hardly a secret. The three candidates knew exactly what kind of rally this was when they signed up to speak at it.
Maddow recommended the moderators at this week’s debate ask the three candidates about their appearance at such a hateful rally by sketching “a little tableaux of gay people being stoned to death or thrown off cliffs.”
Kudos to Maddow for calling it out under no uncertain terms.
Watch via MSNBC (she starts talking about Swanson’s rally at about 5:50 of the clip):
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