IOWA: GOP Candidates Refuse To Denounce Attendance At “Death To Gays” Convention

The Des Moines Register reports:

Three Republican presidential candidates spoke at a forum in Des Moines this month hosted by a pastor who raved approvingly that the Bible justifies killing gay people — “and I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ.” But neither Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (since endorsed by Iowa’s Congressman Steve King) nor Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal nor former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee rebutted Kevin Swanson incendiary statements. They chose instead to talk about a war on Christianity.

Calls and emails seeking a reaction to Swanson’s remarks by spokespeople for Cruz and Jindal (who suspended his campaign Tuesday) went unanswered. Huckabee’s spokeswoman Alice Stewart asked for documentation and was sent a video link. She responded the next day saying, “Gov. Huckabee appreciated the opportunity to speak with an audience in Iowa about the importance of standing up for our religious liberties.”

The program had a long list of sponsoring organizations including the conservative Iowa Family Leader and Homeschool Iowa, American Family Association, Landmark Events, Liberty Institute, Midwest Parent Educators, Generations with Vision, Samaritan Ministries, The American Vision, Heritage Defense and Illinois Christian Home Educators.

Iowa’s virulently anti-gay Family Leader told the newspaper that they “absolutely condemn any call for violence against homosexuals.” But they refused to say if they would have withdrawn their sponsorship of the event if they’d known what Swanson would say. As we all know, Swanson’s calls for the genocide of gay Americans were well-known long before the event began.

UPDATE: JMG reader Rob sends us this clip in which Sirius XM host Mike Malloy goes off on an extended rant about the issue.