Scott Walker Walks Back His Disgusting Suggestion That Gay Scout Leaders Are Pedophiles – By Lying?
Scott Walker got asked by a reporter about the Boy Scouts’ plan to allow gay adult Scout leaders, and he gave his honest answer – which turned out to be offensive and disgusting. Now, he’s trying to walk it back. Is he lying about what he meant?
That’s Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker in the photo above, speaking at CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Convention. CPAC is the far right wing’s annual get-together that is so anti-gay they don’t even allow gay GOP groups, like Log Cabin Republicans, or the now defunct gay Tea Party group, GOProud, to have an official presence. A few years ago when they did, the outrage was huge, and led to boycotts.
Scott Walker fits in perfectly.
Last year, Gov. Walker spent months being coy about his position on marriage for same-sex couples.
In June of 2014 he claimed that despite same-sex marriage cases being tried in nearly half the states in the nation, his opinion on the issue gripping the nation “really doesn’t matter.”
After a few more months of being coy, Walker, just before the November elections, made his position clear.
In September Walker had sought the endorsement of one of Wisconsin’s most anti-gay organizations. In a September 5 letter to Wisconsin Family Action he quietly told them, the AP had reported, “he supports marriage between one man and one woman.”
His anti-gay record is clear, but like a high school bully he’s teased LGBT people from time to time about how he feels about them. A few months ago, when every GOP presidential candidate was being asked if they would attend a wedding of a same-sex couple, Walker offered up a quintessential Walker response.
“That’s certainly a personal issue,†Walker began, which, of course, if you’re running for president, it is not. He told reporters he, his wife, his wife Tonette and their children “already had a family member who’s had a reception. I haven’t been to a wedding,” the Wisconsin governor said, making sure to let the press know his “position on marriage is still that’s defined between a man and a woman,” and adding, “I support the Constitution of the state.”
“But for someone I love, we’ve been at a reception.”
He never, of course, answered the actual question.
When asked by a reporter this week about the Boy Scouts’ move to drop its ban on gay adult Scout leaders, Walker was only too happy to offer a disgusting, thinly-veiled anti-gay response, suggesting that gays are pedophiles.
“I was an Eagle Scout, my kids have been involved, Tonette (Walker) was a den mother,” Walker told IJReview.
“I have had a lifelong commitment to the Scouts and support the previous membership policy because it protected children and advanced Scout values.â€
Now, under fire for parroting the religious right’s homophobia a bit to closely, yesterday Walker tried to walk back his comments.
Oh, he didn’t mean to suggest that gay people are pedophiles, oh no.
The New York Times reports that “during a brief news conference in South Carolina on Wednesday, Mr. Walker said that he was not pushing to save the ban — ‘it’s up to the Boy Scouts’ — and that his earlier remarks were not about protecting children from gay people.”
“The protection was not a physical protection,†he said, but rather about “protecting them from being involved in the very thing you’re talking about right now, the political and media discussion about it, instead of just focusing on what Scouts is about, which is about camping and citizenship and things of that nature.â€
It’s stunning he didn’t add, “And how dare you suggest that I think gay people are pedophiles!”
Let’s look at his earlier statement again.
“I have had a lifelong commitment to the Scouts and support the previous membership policy because it protected children and advanced Scout values.â€
Here’s what Walker thus is insisting he meant:
“I have had a lifelong commitment to the Scouts and support the previous membership policy because it protected children from being involved in the political and media discussion about gay Scout leaders and advanced Scout values.â€
Seriously?
Managing Editor and Washington Bureau Chief of Talking Points Memo, David Kurtz, writes, “Scott Walker’s attempted walkback of his comments about the Boy Scouts’ ban on gay leaders as having “protected children” is ridiculous on its face.”
Even that is too kind.
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Image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr and a CC license
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U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, Republican of Georgia, is under fire after praising University of Mississippi students, some wearing American flag outfits, mocking a Black woman protester by making monkey sounds and shouting, “lock her up.”
“Counter-protestors at the University of Mississippi made racist remarks — including monkey noises and comparisons to Lizzo — towards a Black woman who was part of a planned protest against the war in Gaza,” Los Angeles Magazine reported Friday.
Collins, who tried to defund Vice President Kamala Harris’ Office in November, declared his support for the counter-protesters at “Ole Miss,” as the University is called.
“Ole Miss taking care of business,” he wrote on social media, atop the video (below).
The counter-protesters, as evidenced in the video, appear to be mostly white.
A large number of users on the social media platform X responded, accusing the Congressman and the counter-protesters of racism.
“When is the inevitable ‘I don’t have a racist bone in my body’ tweet coming,” wondered Rewire News Group editor-at-large Imani Gandy.
“Which part is your favorite, Mike?” asked Fred Wellman, the former executive director of The Lincoln Project. “Is it the white kid acting like a monkey at the black woman or the white security guy acting like she’s a threat? I’m trying to figure out which flavor of racism has you all excited the most?”
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Harvard Law Cyberlaw Clinic clinical instructor Alejandra Caraballo responded to the Georgia GOP congressman, “Thanks for confirming you’re a massive racist piece of sh*t.”
Mississippi Free Press news editor Ashton Pittman wrote: “Rep. Mike Collins, R-Georgia, praises a video showing a University of Mississippi frat boy dancing like a monkey and making monkey noises near a Black woman student who was protesting for Palestine while other frat boys chant ‘lock her up.'”
In a separate post describing a separate video taken of the same group Pittman wrote: “Frat bros at @OleMiss chant, ‘Lizzo! Lizzo!’ and shout, ‘F**k you fatass, f**k you b*tch’ at a Black woman who was protesting for Palestine. Do people really think these counterprotestors are doing it to support Jews?”
Journalist John Harwood did not mince words, writing, “Congressman proud of the racism.”
“Okay, Mike. We get it,” wrote podcast host, documentary director, and author W. Kamau Bell. “You want to be famous for being a racist. Fine. I’ll help you become a famous racist. You’re welcome.”
The original video is here.
See Rep. Collins’ post and the video below or at this link.
Caution: the video is disturbing.
Ole Miss taking care of business. pic.twitter.com/JiL9hs2pHz
— Rep. Mike Collins (@RepMikeCollins) May 3, 2024
READ MORE: Noem Heads to Mar-a-Lago After Branding Kids She Ministered in Church ‘Little Tyrants’
Amid more damning revelations from her soon-to-be released book, embattled South Dakota Republican Governor Kristi Noem will head to Mar-a-Lago this weekend as ex-president Donald Trump auditions potential vice presidential picks in front of high-dollar donors. Noem was also slated to attend a Republican fundraiser in Colorado this weekend but it was canceled over alleged safety concerns after news broke she had bragged about shooting her 14-month old dog.
While Noem’s shooting to death of her wirehaired pointer, Cricket, which she detailed in the book, is still making headlines overnight a new revelation made news: Noem falsely claims in her book she met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.
A spokesperson for Noem “seemed to concede that the Kim story was false Thursday night,” and notified her publisher, Politico’s Ryan Lizza reported in his exclusive.
But less noticed appears to be the actual text of Noem’s false story, in which she brands children she ministered in church “little tyrants,” and compared them to the murderous North Korean dictator.
READ MORE: RFK Jr., Embracing Far-Right, Spoke at Fundraiser for Anti-Government Group With J6 Ties
“Through my tenure on the House Armed Services Committee,” Noem wrote, according to Politico, “I had the chance to travel to many countries to meet with world leaders. I remember when I met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. I’m sure he underestimated me, having no clue about my experience staring down little tyrants (I’d been a children’s pastor, after all).”
CNBC reported this week Trump “will mingle with potential vice presidential running mates and wealthy Republican donors at the Republican National Committee’s spring donor retreat. The meetings are likely to act as informal tryouts for a short list of politicos in the running to join the Trump ticket.”
The list of Republican “special guests” includes U.S. Senators Marco Rubio, Tim Scott, and J.D. Vance, Rep. Elise Stefanik, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem.
Also expected to attend are House Speaker Mike Johnson, U.S. Reps. Byron Donalds of Florida and Wesley Hunt of Texas, former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, and other elected Republicans along with RNC co-chair Lara Trump.
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NBC News, which says Rep. Donalds is also under consideration, on Friday added there will be “a fundraising retreat that could serve as a screening session” for potential vice presidential running mates.
Meanwhile, the Jefferson County, Colorado Republican Party chair announced a fundraising dinner Noem was slated to attend was canceled after threats were made, The Denver Post reports.
“We understood there was a planned organized protest outside of the hotel, led by Progress Now,” Nancy Pallozzi said. “I felt that our event would be negatively impacted, and we could not take the risk that those who made threats would cause physical harm.”
Over the weekend independent 2024 presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. spoke at a fundraiser for a far-right anti-government group in Erie County, New York – a slice of the country that had a large proportion of residents arrested and charged for crimes related to the January 6 insurrection. Kennedy, a conspiracy theorist and vaccine denialist, increasingly is embracing the far-right.
“That group, Constitutional Coalition of New York State, has founders who not only have ties to Donald Trump but are also connected to the stop-the-steal movement through their activist network, which includes groups that had a presence at the Capitol on Jan. 6,” The Daily Beast reported Friday. “It’s yet another instance of Kennedy—who is mounting one of the most well-funded third-party presidential threats in decades—serving as a peculiar bridge between his own anti-establishment movement and Trump’s.”
The Southern Poverty Law Center includes the Constitutional Coalition of New York State (CCNYS) on its page of anti-government groups. Political Research Associates, which detailed the high proportion of January 6 residents arrested and charged, included the Constitutional Coalition of New York State in its February report on “The Rise of the Far Right in Western New York.”
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“If you don’t think the government is lying to you, you’re not paying attention,” Kennedy told attendees at the CCNYS fundraiser, The Buffalo News reports.
“CCNYS founders Nick and Nancie Orticelli are also affiliated with the Watchmen, a nearby militia who Nick has encouraged his social media followers to join. The Watchmen had several members at the Capitol on Jan. 6, and one member, Pete Harding, is still facing charges for violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds,” The Daily Beast noted. “Nancie Orticelli has also hosted the Watchmen’s founder, Charles Pellien, on her weekly radio show on several occasions.”
One of Kennedy’s goals in traveling to New York was to get on the ballot for the November presidential election. Various polls show him taking votes from both President Joe Biden and ex-president Donald Trump, but Kennedy currently has only qualified to be on the ballot in three states, Utah, Michigan and Hawaii, the newspaper reported.
But The Washington Post on Thursday reported The American Independent Party of California, which has a history of “far-right ties,” and “backed segregationist and former Alabama governor George Wallace in 1968, nominated Kennedy for president.”
Kennedy “said this week that he has qualified to be on the ballot in California and will accept the nomination of the American Independent Party, which has a history of associating itself with far-right figures and individuals who have expressed racist views.”
Some news reports and RFK Jr. himself say the Trump campaign was actively courting Kennedy, attempting to convince him to consider being the ex-president’s 2024 vice presidential running mate.
“That MAGA dalliance with Kennedy could be coming back to bite the Trump campaign, some Republicans close to the former president worry,” The Daily Beast also reported.
“’They can only blame themselves,’ a Trump-aligned strategist told The Daily Beast, requesting anonymity to speak candidly about private conversations about the risk Kennedy poses, ‘because they cozied up to him and thought it was funny.’”
Watch WIVBTV’s report on Kennedy’s trip to New York below or at this link.
READ MORE: Trump Won’t Commit to Accepting Election Results if He Doesn’t Win State He Falsely Claims He Won
Congressman Pummeled for Praising Students Mocking Black Protester With Monkey Sounds
Noem Heads to Mar-a-Lago After Branding Kids She Ministered in Church ‘Little Tyrants’
RFK Jr., Embracing Far-Right, Spoke at Fundraiser for Anti-Government Group With J6 Ties
Election Denialism Embraced by ‘Large Proportion’ of Trump’s Followers: Report
Trump Won’t Commit to Accepting Election Results if He Doesn’t Win State He Falsely Claims He Won
News2 days agoCongressman Pummeled for Praising Students Mocking Black Protester With Monkey Sounds
News2 days agoNoem Heads to Mar-a-Lago After Branding Kids She Ministered in Church ‘Little Tyrants’
News3 days agoRFK Jr., Embracing Far-Right, Spoke at Fundraiser for Anti-Government Group With J6 Ties