Values Voter Summit Day 1 Recap: Anti-Immigrant and Anti-LGBT Sentiment Prevails
The Values Voter Summit (VVS) has begun in Washington, D.C., and, as predicted, anti-LGBT and anti-immigrant rhetoric were predominant themes.
The VVS crowd heard from a number of GOP presidential nominees, including frontrunner Donald Trump, whose speeches were intermingled with those from representatives from a number of anti-LGBT hate groups, including two VVS sponsors: the American Family Association (AFA) and the Family Research Council (FRC). The day concluded with an award ceremony for Kim Davis, the Rowan County, Ky., clerk who refused to grant same-sex couples marriage licenses following the U.S. Supreme Court decision on gay marriage.
Here are some of the highlights of day one of the summit:
• In a speech, GOP nominee Marco Rubio attacked refugees and asked, “When's the last time you saw a boat load of American refugees arriving at another country?" Another GOP nominee, Ted Cruz threatened to kill the Allotolah of Iran and introduce the Supreme Leader to "72 virgins." Cruz made claim just minute after attacking Iranian leaders for leading chants of "death to America." Cruz also used his speech to bash immigrants, calling for an end to so-called "sanctuary cities" and stoking fears of "violent criminal illegal aliens" roaming American streets.
• A third GOP presidential candidate, Rick Santorum, called for the mass deportation off all undocumented immigrants in the United States.
• Ben Carson attacked immigrants, stating, "They don't get to change who we are!" Carson went on to blend anti-immigrant fears and anti-Muslim rhetoric when he claimed immigrants coming in from Mexico are "from Iraq and Syria and Russia and many of them are hardened criminals."
• Planned Parenthood was also a target in the wake of deceptively edited videos released by the Center for Medical Progress. GOP presidential candidate Bobby Jindal claimed Planned Parenthood is "selling baby parts all across our country." David Daleiden, the head of CMP, compared Planned Parenthood officials to slave traders.
• Anti-LGBT activist Gary Bauer, in his time at the podium, demonized Muslims, claiming Islam to be part of the Afghan culture for men to rape boys. Bauer also blamed "Muslim immigration to Europe," as the reason for anti-Semitism on the European continent, completely ignoring the anti-Semitic right-wing political parties and street movements that have a presence in virtually European nation.
• The day concluded with an award ceremony for Kim Davis. In the buildup, Tony Perkins, head of FRC, quoted Martin Luther King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail" and the need to defy "unjust laws." He went on to reference the Dred Scott Supreme Court decision, as well as Rosa Parks, as evidence for why Davis should be praised. Perkins once bought Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke's mailing list and spoke at a Louisiana chapter of the Council of Conservative Citizens, the white supremacist group Charleston shooter Dylann Roof credited as being his gateway into white nationalism.
Check back tomorrow for a recap of events from day two of the Values Voter Summit.
