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New Marco Rubio: Christians Must Love LGBT People While Still Discriminating Against Them (Video)

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Same as Old Marco Rubio, but Now in Race of His Life

Marco Rubio Friday addressed attendees of an evangelical Christian conference hosted by an anti-LGBT extremist whose funding comes from an anti-gay hate group. The failed Republican presidential candidate who had promised he would not seek re-election even if he lost his White House bid is now seeking re-election and is in a tight race, just a few points away from his Democratic rival, Rep. Patrick E. Murphy. Donald Trump addressed the group Thursday.

Rubio on Friday spoke to hundreds attending the “Rediscovering God in America” conference, hosted by anti-gay activist and religious extremist David Lane, whose American Renewal Project is funded by the American Family Association.

“I support the traditional definition of marriage because I believe the union of one man and one woman is a special relationship with an extraordinary record of success of raising children into strong and successful people,” Rubio told evangelicals, reinforcing his often-stated positions against same-sex marriage.

He also repeated portions of his stump speech in which he denounces those who call people who oppose same-sex marriage “bigots” and remarks against marriage equality as “hate speech,” but Rubio surprised the audience by appearing to denounce those who have denounced LGBT people for being LGBT.

“To love our neighbors we must recognize that many have experienced sometimes severe condemnation and judgment from some Christians,” Rubio told the audience. The Florida Republican in June used the anti-gay hate crime mass shooting terror attack at Orlando’s Pulse nightclub as a reason to seek re-election. Today’s conference is the two-month anniversary of that tragedy in which 49 people were targeted and massacred for being LGBT.

“They have heard some say that the reason God will bring condemnation on America is because of them — as if somehow God was willing to put up with adultery and gluttony and greed and pride, but now this is the last straw,” Rubio said, not once admitting his own attacks on the LGBT community nor asking forgiveness.

The Republican Senator who has repeatedly said same-sex couples should not be allowed to marry or raise children – or even be foster parents to the most needy of all children, told evangelicals that American history “has been marred by discrimination against and rejection of gays and lesbians,” whom he called “our brothers and our sisters, our fellow Americans, our neighbors in the LGBT community.” 

But Rubio also told his audience that “we should recognize that even as we stand firm in the belief that marriage is the union between one man and one woman, there are those in that community in same-sex relationships whose love for one another is real and feel angry and humiliated that the law did not recognize their relationship as a marriage.”

“To love our neighbors we must recognize that many have experienced — sometimes — severe condemnation and judgment from some Christians.”

Among those Christians are Rubio’s fellow speakers, hosts, and organizers of the event, including David Lane, who has called homosexuality “debauchery,” suggested that Christians should be prepared to martyr themselves in order to prevent marriage equality, and has said that homosexuality is a moral crisis that “threatened our utter destruction,” as NCRM reported last month.

Lane also wrote a 2013 op-ed calling for a “war to restore a Christian America.” 

HRC President Chad Griffin posted this to Twitter in response to Rubio’s remarks:

Equality Florida CEO Nadine Smith, who has been at the center of organizing support for the families and friends of victims of the Pulse terror attack, issued a statement saying Senator Rubio’s “hypocrisy is appalling,” and denouncing Rubio’s attendance and speech at today’s conference, and attacked him for his positions on LGBT civil rights and opposition to common sense gun control reforms.

“Two months ago 49 people were murdered by yet another angry young man embracing a hateful ideology who targeted an LGBT nightclub,” Smith said in a statement sent to NCRM. “Our gun laws are so appalling, this madman was able to purchase weapons capable of mass slaughter. Rubio wants to invoke the names of the victims to deflect criticism of him sharing the stage with notorious bigots. He used this platform to gin up anti-Muslim hatred while opposing the most basic LGBT protections and gun safety measures that have been shown to dramatically reduce gun deaths.”

“If Rubio truly wanted to make discrimination against LGBT people a thing of the past, he would support the passage of state and federal legislation that prohibits discrimination against LGBT people,” which the Florida Republican first elected to the Senate in the Tea Party wave of 2010 does not.

“If Rubio truly represented Florida’s constituents, he would have voted for legislation requiring universal background checks on all gun purchases, instead of voting it down just a few weeks after the Pulse massacre,” Smith charged, which is true. “If Rubio truly wanted the American church to ‘abandon the spirit of judgement,’ he would not share a stage with those who use hate speech as a weapon and call on people to martyr themselves to oppose equal protection for LGBT people.”

Smith charged Sen. Rubio with supporting “laws that treat LGBT people as his inferiors and deny us the same protections he demands for himself and his family. His statement at today’s extremist conference was tone-deaf and spineless, and we do not need his hollow thoughts and prayers. His cruel actions, not his pandering words, define his character.”

Watch Rubio’s speech below:

Posted by Marco Rubio on Friday, August 12, 2016

Democratic Rep. Murphy, who is challenging Rubio for his Senate seat, posted this to Twitter Friday afternoon:

 

Image by Florida Democrats via Twitter

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‘These Are Our National Secrets’: Democrat Slams GOP for Ignoring Trump Classified Documents Found ‘In the S——’

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U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) blasted House Republicans for ignoring the hundreds of classified documents photographed on stage and “in the s——” at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort and residence, while going after President Joe Biden who she said not one witness at Thursday’s impeachment “inquiry” had identified what crime he allegedly committed.

“As I prepared,” Rep. Crockett told members of the House Oversight Committee Thursday, “I said, ‘What is the crime?’ Because when you’re talking about impeachment, you’re talking about high crimes and misdemeanors, and I can’t seem to find the crime and honestly, no one has testified of what crime they believe the President of the United States has committed.”

“But when we started talking about things that look like evidence, they want to act like they blind, they don’t know what this is,” Crockett said, waving photographs of boxes allegedly containing classified and top secret documents on stage and in a restroom at Mar-a-Lago.

RELATED: ‘He Knows I’m Right’: Democrat Mocks ‘Scared’ McCarthy and Blows Off Chairman Comer in ‘Very Unserious’ Hearing

“These are our national secrets, looks like in the s—— to me,” she said, as NBC News described her remarks. “This looks like more evidence of our national secrets, say on the stage at Mar-a-Lago. When we’re talking about somebody that’s committed high crimes it’s at least indictments, let’s say 32 counts related to unauthorized retention of national security secrets, seven counts related to obstructing the investigation. Three false statements, one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, falsifying business records, conspiracy to defraud the United States, two counts related to efforts to obstruct the vote certification proceedings, one count of conspiracy to violate civil rights, 23 counts related to forgery or false documents statements, eight counts related to soliciting, and I could go on because he’s got 91 counts pending right now.”

“But I will tell you what the President [Biden] has been guilty of. He has unfortunately been guilty of loving his child unconditionally, and that is the only evidence that they have brought forward and honestly, I hope and pray that my parents love me half as much as he loves his child. Until they find some evidence we need to get back to the people’s work, which means keeping this government open so that people don’t go hungry in the streets of the United States, and I will yield.”

Congresswoman Crockett’s remarks quickly went viral, with just this video getting 4.6 million views in just four hours.

Watch below or at this link.

RELATED: ‘Flying Monkeys on a Mission for the Wicked Witch’: Raskin Rips Republicans Over Impeachment ‘Inquiry’

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‘He Knows I’m Right’: Democrat Mocks ‘Scared’ McCarthy and Blows Off Chairman Comer in ‘Very Unserious’ Hearing

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During House Republicans’ impeachment “inquiry” into President Joe Biden, U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL) detailed Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s transition from refusing to allow a vote for an impeachment inquiry to ordering his top Chairmen to initiate an impeachment “inquiry” in the span of just twelve days.

Congressman Frost, the youngest member of the House, called the Speaker “scared,” before turning his attention to the GOP’s witnesses who he said “are not giving us any basis or giving us any evidence or anything,” angering Republican Oversight Chairman Jim Comer, who interjected, “That’s not true.”

Rep. Frost refused to allow the Chairman to interrupt him, and shot back, “Reclaiming my time.”

“These these witnesses are not giving any answers. They’re just asking more questions,” Rep. Frost continued.

While challenging the credibility of the GOP’s witnesses, Frost said there was “one witness who has a lot of questions .. one witness who knows something about accounting but has no real involvement,” and then accused the third witness, the well-known attorney and commentator Jonathan Turley, of “stopping here on his way to his next Fox News hit.”

READ MORE: ‘All Those Biden Towers’ Where ‘Influence Was Used’: Democrat Turns Tables and Mocks Republicans in Sarcastic Q&A

Frost noted that had McCarthy put an impeachment inquiry on the floor for a vote, it “would lose on the House floor and be another embarrassment in the long list of embarrassments in this Congress for the Speaker of the House.”

He added that far-right Republicans  threatened “to shut down the government, something that will happen in just two days.” He also noted, “this is the one that really got to [McCarthy], they said you, you’re about to lose your job and they said we will remove you as Speaker of the house.”

“And that scared him so much that Kevin McCarthy, the Speaker of the House, the United States House of Representatives, third in line to the presidency, completely caved due to the threats of people within his own caucus.”

READ MORE: ‘Flying Monkeys on a Mission for the Wicked Witch’: Raskin Rips Republicans Over Impeachment ‘Inquiry’

Pointing to Chairman Comer, Frost on social media said, “He had to interrupt me because he knows I’m right. They say that this isn’t an impeachment, it’s an impeachment ‘inquiry’ to get answers. Then they call up witnesses that are just asking more questions and not providing any answers or evidence. This hearing is very unserious.”

Watch the videos above or at this link.

 

 

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‘All Those Biden Towers’ Where ‘Influence Was Used’: Democrat Turns Tables and Mocks Republicans in Sarcastic Q&A

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U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) turned the tables on Republicans during the House Oversight Committee’s first impeachment “inquiry” into President Joe Biden by sarcastically referring to “all those Biden towers all over the world where foreign partnerships were formed and influence was used here in the US,” forcing the witness to correct him and point out he actually meant ex-President Donald Trump.

The hearing, chaired by Rep. Jim Comer (R-KY) was widely seen as another failed effort by House Republicans against President Biden. It took a turn when Republicans’ own witness, law professor and Fox News media contributor Jonathan Turley told them he saw no evidence that warrants an impeachment of the President.

Meanwhile, Congressman Connelly’s scathing remarks quickly spread across social media, garnering hundreds of thousands of views views in just hours.

“Um, well let’s see,” Connolly began, slowly, “I’m looking at, um, I heard again, um, I think it was professor Hurley talk about – – because he’s not prejudging of course, but he’s just suggesting that maybe we want to look into criminal activity like obstruction, fraud, and abuse of power.”

“So let’s take fraud. So shouldn’t we be concerned that a New York judge just found President Biden’s organization committing fraud every year for the last 10 or 15 years,” Connolly continued, “and that, under the Martin law, that Biden organization is now subject to dismemberment and dismantlement because of the fraudulent activity?”

READ MORE: ‘Flying Monkeys on a Mission for the Wicked Witch’: Raskin Rips Republicans Over Impeachment ‘Inquiry’

“That should be of concern to Mr. Trump,” the witness, Professor Michael Gerhardt, replied.

“Mr. Trump again!” Connolly sarcastically exclaimed, feigning surprise. “And in this case, we’re not speculating, a judge actually made that ruling?”

“Yes sir,” Gerhardt replied.

”Should we be concerned about the personal – I mean, while we’re at it, while we’re loading on – shouldn’t we be concerned about the personal behavior of the President, for example, President Trump or President Biden, being found guilty of sexual assault and defamation associated with that activity, again in a civil court?”

“We should be concerned as it related to Mr. Trump,” Gerhardt again replied.

“With Mr. Trump again?” Connolly again said mockingly.

“I just think that one of the reasons we’re here is because somebody has been indicted in four different locales, on four different sets of concerns, with I think 81, 91 actual counts, and has been found guilty in two civil proceedings, one involving sexual behavior and one on actual corporate fraudulent activity. And we don’t want to talk about any of that. We want to speculate about discredited testimony from discredited witnesses,” Connolly added.

“Distract, deflect, dissemble,” Connolly added. “I think this hearing’s all about ‘look over here, not over there.’”

READ MORE: Poll Finds Majority Oppose Impeachment Inquiry as House GOP Kicks Off Hearings Two Days Before Likely Shutdown

“I’ve heard concerns about ‘branding,'” Connolly continued. “So, shouldn’t we be concerned about all those Biden towers all over the world where foreign partnerships were formed and influence was used here in the United States? I’ve seen these towers in Indonesia, in the Philippines, in Turkey. I even saw one in Chicago. Shouldn’t that be a source of concern of this committee in terms of influence, both foreign and domestic, when Biden became president?”

“If there were such things as ‘Biden building,'” Gerhardt said.

“Well, was there anyone who did have them?” Connolly asked. “Well, could you tell us? Just give me the name.”

“I think we’re talking about Mr. Trump,” Gerhardt replied.

“So, when President Biden appointed his son to manage U.S. foreign policy, both in the Persian Gulf and the Middle East peace, by the way, a son who couldn’t qualify for getting a security clearance, but President Biden apparently granted it to Hunter anyhow – and then, after leaving the White House, getting a $2 billion deal … shouldn’t that be of concern to us that maybe a sweetheart deal occurred with the blessing of the president, with foreign money, and shouldn’t we look into Hunter Biden for that, given the fact that the handled Middle East peace in the White House?”

“It should have been a concern with President Trump and his son-in-law,” Gerhardt said.

“Oh Trump. I got that wrong again,” snarked Congressman Connolly.

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