“I regret using any words that hurt people or that make people think I hate them, or that make people think I look down on them.”
—E.W. Jackson, a Republican candidate for Virginia’s U.S. Senate seat, in an interview with the Richmond Times-Dispatch in which Jackson attempted to dispel what he feels are misconceptions about his conservative beliefs.
Jackson previously ran for lieutenant governor in 2013, losing to Ralph Northam in the general election. During that campaign, Jackson came under intense criticism for controversial statements he made about LGBTQ rights, abortion, and a host of other social issues. Some of those statements included calling gay people “very sick” and “perverted.”
Attempting to set the record straight, Jackson told the Times-Dispatch that he regrets the tone of his past comments.
He still opposes same-sex marriage and measures that promote LGBTQ equality, such as nondiscrimination laws, but says he hopes to communicate his conservative values in a less offensive manner.
“I am going to endeavor in this campaign to express that in a way that calls attention to my faith, where appropriate, without implying some sort of hostility against gay people or transgender people,” Jackson said. “Because I don’t believe that. And that’s one of the many lessons I’ve learned.”
Jackson, the pastor of The Called — Exodus Faith Ministries in Chesapeake, Va., also attempted to put his anti-LGBTQ rhetoric into context.
He noted that the comments for which he came under fire were “said not in the context of a campaign but on Christian radio where I’m speaking as a pastor and minister to Christians.”
He also claims that if he were to see someone bullying a gay or transgender person, he would step in “and physically fight for them.”
Jackson is one of four GOP candidates currently running for the seat held held by Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine.
Also seeking the party’s nomination is Corey Stewart, a former Prince William County supervisor who almost toppled Ed Gillespie in this year’s Republican primary after running a Trump-style campaign seizing on preserving Confederate monuments as a way of opposing “political correctness.”
A recently unearthed video clip of Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump's pick for U.S. Secretary of Defense, shows the former Army National Guard officer lamenting that allowing LGBTQ service members to serve openly, and allowing women into combat roles, would erode military standards.
Hegseth, a former Fox News contributor, made the comments during a 2015 appearance on the station's Red Eye program. (MeidasTouch News obtained and posted the clip to its website.) During a panel discussion, Hegseth accused military higher ups, under former President Barack Obama's administration, of engaging in "social engineering" by pushing for greater inclusivity instead of improving national security.
At least eight Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies have been relieved of duty as federal authorities investigate allegations that they helped cover up the beating and arrest of a transgender man in a 7-Eleven parking lot.
Last month, former Sheriff's Deputy Joseph Benza III indicated that he intends to plead guilty to one felony count of deprivation of rights under color of law when he next appears in court on January 17, 2025.
The charge, which carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, stems from an incident on February 10, 2023, in which the 36-year-old deputy assaulted and used "excessive force" to subdue and arrest Emmet Brock, a 23-year-old high school teacher, after Brock flipped him the middle finger.
Republicans in Montana are considering a nasty piece of anti-transgender legislation as they hear a proposed bill to ban transgender individuals from bathrooms aligning with their gender identity.
As reported by journalist Erin Reed on her Erin in the Morning Substack, the measure, introduced by State Rep. Kerri Seekins-Crowe (R-Billings), would prohibit transgender people from entering multi-occupancy bathrooms designated for a specific sex that does not align with an individual's assigned sex at birth.
The ban would apply to all "public buildings," which is defined as any facility owned or leased by a public agency. It would encompass bathrooms in government buildings, public colleges and universities, public schools, libraries, museums, state airports, publicly-owned hospitals, and public parks and rest stops.
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“I regret using any words that hurt people or that make people think I hate them, or that make people think I look down on them.”
—E.W. Jackson, a Republican candidate for Virginia’s U.S. Senate seat, in an interview with the Richmond Times-Dispatch in which Jackson attempted to dispel what he feels are misconceptions about his conservative beliefs.
Jackson previously ran for lieutenant governor in 2013, losing to Ralph Northam in the general election. During that campaign, Jackson came under intense criticism for controversial statements he made about LGBTQ rights, abortion, and a host of other social issues. Some of those statements included calling gay people “very sick” and “perverted.”
Attempting to set the record straight, Jackson told the Times-Dispatch that he regrets the tone of his past comments.
He still opposes same-sex marriage and measures that promote LGBTQ equality, such as nondiscrimination laws, but says he hopes to communicate his conservative values in a less offensive manner.
“I am going to endeavor in this campaign to express that in a way that calls attention to my faith, where appropriate, without implying some sort of hostility against gay people or transgender people,” Jackson said. “Because I don’t believe that. And that’s one of the many lessons I’ve learned.”
Jackson, the pastor of The Called — Exodus Faith Ministries in Chesapeake, Va., also attempted to put his anti-LGBTQ rhetoric into context.
He noted that the comments for which he came under fire were “said not in the context of a campaign but on Christian radio where I’m speaking as a pastor and minister to Christians.”
He also claims that if he were to see someone bullying a gay or transgender person, he would step in “and physically fight for them.”
Jackson is one of four GOP candidates currently running for the seat held held by Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine.
Also seeking the party’s nomination is Corey Stewart, a former Prince William County supervisor who almost toppled Ed Gillespie in this year’s Republican primary after running a Trump-style campaign seizing on preserving Confederate monuments as a way of opposing “political correctness.”
The other Republicans seeking the seat are Ivan Raiklin, a veteran and D.C. tech investor, and Del. Nick Freitas (R-Culpeper), who introduced a bill that would have allowed individuals and businesses to discriminate against LGBTQ people without any consequences, so long as they claimed the discrimination was based on their sincerely held religious beliefs.
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