Mark Burns, a loyal supporter of former President Donald Trump who is currently running for Congress in South Carolina's 4th District, is facing heavy criticism after he called for parents and teachers who support LGBTQ+ children to be "executed" for treason.
Speaking during an appearance on The Stew Peters Show last week, Burns pledged to "fight" to rid the country of the "LGBTQ indoctrination" of children, adding that he wants "to make sure that those parents be held for child abuse."
Burns also echoed conservative talking points about transgender people that bring to mind the recent controversy that erupted in Texas after Greg Abbott, the state's Republican governor, signed off on legislation that, though ultimately struck down by a federal judge, would have empowered the state to open child abuse investigations into families whose children receive gender affirming procedures.
His words offer further examples of the ongoing "groomer" hysteria accusing LGBTQ+ people of building relationships, trust, and emotional connections with children so they can manipulate, exploit and abuse them.
You can hear what Burns said in the video below.
Burns said:
“I vote to make sure that those parents be held for child abuse. There is no such thing as trans kids, there are only abusive parents who are pushing that evil, evil sexual orientation onto their child’s mind.”
“I want to make sure that those parents have been held accountable. We should start putting some of those parents in jail for abusing their child’s minds."
"Especially in the school system, any teacher that is teaching that LGBT, transgenderism, furries, the groomers, any sexual orientation communication in the school system should be immediately terminated but [teachers should also] be held for abusing young children.”
Burns went even further with his "groomer" accusations, claiming that “the LGBT, transgender grooming our children’s minds is a national security threat because it is ultimately designed to destabilize the republic we call the United States of America.”
He pledged that if elected, he would revive the House Un-American Activities Committee, which was created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloyalty and subversive activities on the part of private citizens, public employees, and those organizations suspected of having either fascist or communist ties.
The committee's anti-communist investigations are often associated with McCarthyism, the practice of making accusations of subversion and treason, especially when related to communism and socialism as it refers to the policies of the late Senator Joseph McCarthy, a Wisconsin Republican considered instrumental to the heightened political repression and persecution of left-wing individuals during the 1940s and 1950s.
On this note, Burns said:
“It is a committee that we should reenact that starts holding these people accountable for treason. Lindsey Graham should be held accountable for treason for supporting [Democratic President] Joe Biden’s gun-grabbing Second Amendment law that he’s trying to push forward."
He also took aim at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Kentucky) and Senator Lindsey Graham (South Carolina), saying that they "should be held for treason" for voicing even conditional support for bipartisan gun control legislation in the Senate, adding:
“We need to hold people for treason, start having some public hearings, and start executing people who are found guilty for their treasonous acts against the Constitution of the United States of America, just like they did back in 1776."
Burns' rhetoric left many feeling significantly alarmed and he was criticized almost immediately for advocating for what amounts to genocide.
\u201cThe right wing in this country is openly planning a genocide and nobody is doing anything to stop them\u201d— Tara Fisher (@Tara Fisher) 1654967394
\u201cGOP candidates are openly calling for mass execution of queer people so can our supposed allies stop arguing about whether it's too harsh to say they're genocidal?\u201d— \ud835\udcdd\ud835\udcf2\ud835\udcea \ud835\udcd2\ud835\udcf8\ud835\udcf5\ud835\udcea (@\ud835\udcdd\ud835\udcf2\ud835\udcea \ud835\udcd2\ud835\udcf8\ud835\udcf5\ud835\udcea) 1654891287
\u201cI\u2019ve said for years that the only difference between openly hateful anti LGBTQ groups like Westboro and \u201cmainstream\u201d evangelicals is their choice of words. Looks like even that difference is disappearing.\u201d— Alaric DeArment (@Alaric DeArment) 1654879017
\u201cThe Republican Party is no better than the Westboro Baptist Church. They are Christian nationalists who wish to commit terrorism against us LGBTQ+ people, because they would rather have Christian supremacy over equality. That is the truth.\u201d— Tyger Songbird \ud83d\udc9c \ud83c\udca1 \u2660\ufe0f\ud83c\udff9 (@Tyger Songbird \ud83d\udc9c \ud83c\udca1 \u2660\ufe0f\ud83c\udff9) 1654815061
\u201cWhy is there anybody who's willing to give these fascists the benefit of the doubt on whether or not they're going to follow through on their threats?\u201d— Jamie Cinder (@Jamie Cinder) 1654816539
\u201cscary slippery slope talkin' here.\u201d— bb_imissu (@bb_imissu) 1654825208
\u201cHey @FBI, you might want to take a look at this guy.\u201d— Casey Lewis (@Casey Lewis) 1654871721
\u201cTerrorism. This is terrorism. Religious extremism.\u201d— JayGee (@JayGee) 1654821339
\u201cWhat happens when a parishioner hears things like this from the pulpit and takes matters into their own hands by kills ppl he's pastor/preacher/minister is calling to be executed?\u201d— Liz (@Liz) 1654823925
Burns is not the only Republican congressional candidate to advocate for violence or even the execution of their opponents.
In April, John Bennett, who chairs the Oklahoma Republican Party, said before a crowd of supporters he wants to put Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading expert on infectious diseases, "in front of a firing squad." The violent threat prompted his supporters to erupt into cheers.
