Texas senators split on support for Trump judicial nominee Jeff Mateer
Mateer receiving backlash from LGBTQ groups for comments calling trans kids part of "Satan's plan"
The two home-state senators of President Trump’s nominee to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas are split on how they are reacting after comments that Jeff Mateer made that may indicate personal prejudice or animosity towards LGBTQ people came to light.
Mateer, who was nominated for the lifetime judicial post by Trump on Sept. 7, came under fire from LGBTQ groups after a pair of speeches he had given in 2015 were made public. One of those speeches was given at controversial right-wing pastor Kevin Swanson’s National Religious Liberties Conference, which opponents have dubbed the “Kill the Gays” conference because of Swanson’s rants talking about how the Bible calls for the death of those engaging in homosexuality.
In his 2015 speeches, Mateer bemoaned the trend of states and localities banning conversion therapy on minors, said legalizing same-sex marriage would lead to polygamy and bestiality, and denounced the idea of transgender rights, saying that a transgender first grader who had sued her school to allow her to use the girls’ restroom was part of “Satan’s plan.”
But the state’s two Republican senators, Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, are having two completely different reactions to Mateer’s comments, reports The Dallas Morning News.
Cruz says he still supports Mateer, an assistant attorney general for the state of Texas, arguing that “his record as a lawyer and public servant demonstrates a fidelity to law and a commitment to protecting the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.”
But Cornyn, a former Texas Supreme Court Justice, expressed concern over Mateer’s remarks and said he is reconsidering his support for the nominee.
Both senators sit on the Judiciary Committee, and returned “blue slips” for Mateer before the content of his anti-LGBTQ speeches was widely known. Under Senate tradition, a judicial nomination usually does not proceed if the home state senators of the nominee do not return blue slips that indicate their comfort with allowing the nomination to go forward.
The Dallas Morning News reports that the vice chairman of the panel of lawyers that screens judicial nominees being considered by the Senate said Mateer didn’t disclose his statements on homosexuality.
Cornyn said there should be no “religious test” for judges, meaning Mateer is free to believe what he wants, but said that a judicial nominee should be able to “administer equal justice under law,” something that has been called into question since Mateer’s speeches came to light.
“Because the information was not previously disclosed, we were not able to have that conversation,” Cornyn said. “I’ve got some work to do until I can make that final conclusion.”
LGBTQ groups have slammed Mateer’s comments and called on President Trump to withdraw the nomination. Chad Griffin, the president of the Human Rights Campaign, accused the Trump administration of either failing to vet Mateer, or nominating him for a lifetime appointment despite knowing about his vicious anti-LGBTQ comments.
The National Center for Transgender Equality penned an open letter, signed by 278 parents of transgender children, calling on Mateer to apologize for his comments, particularly those on transgender rights and conversion therapy, or withdraw his own nomination.
“Hundreds of thousands of children and adolescents throughout this country are transgender, like our kids. Like all children — like your children, Mr. Mateer — they deserve to grow up knowing that they are loved and supported,” the letter reads. “Your statements about children like ours are the opposite of love — they are cruel.”
People For the American Way, an LGBTQ-friendly progressive group, released a digital ad on Friday urging viewers to call their senators and demand that Mateer’s nomination be withdrawn. The ad features clips from Mateer’s “Satan’s plan” speech and footage of Swanson trying to stir up a crowd by talking about putting homosexuals to death.
The ad will run in Texas, Maine, Ohio, Alaska, Nevada, and South Carolina, where Republicans who have in the past bucked their party — Sens. Cornyn, Susan Collins, Rob Portman, Lisa Murkowski, Dean Heller, and Lindsey Graham — may be wavering in their support for Mateer.
“Jeff Mateer has spent his career promoting bigotry against the LGBTQ community, and he is completely unfit for a lifetime seat on the bench. His record has shown he would not be able to provide a fair hearing for all people in his courtroom,” PFAW President Michael Keegan said in a statement. “Senators must make it clear that this kind of hate has no place in our courts and that this nomination should be withdrawn.”
See PFAW’s digital ad urging senators to oppose Mateer’s nomination below:
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