Congressman Mark Meadows, known for his vocal opposition to marriage equality and vociferous opposition to protections for LGBTQ workers, will become the fourth Trump chief of staff in as many years.
President Donald Trump late Friday evening installed his fourth White House Chief of Staff, replacing Mick Mulvaney with Republican Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina.
Congressman Meadows is an anti-gay, homophobic, racist birther who repeatedly promised GOP voters he would send then-President Barack Obama “back to Kenya.” He is also the co-founder of the House Freedom Caucus, the most far-right group in Congress.
Here’s Meadows, a far right Tea Party Republican during his first run for Congress in 2011, telling supporters, ” so what we’re gonna do is take back our country – 2012 is the time we are going to send Mr. Obama home to Kenya or wherever it is.”
Here's Mark Meadows, who just sidetracked the entire House Oversight Committee to assure him he's not racist, saying that "2012 is the time we are going to send Mr. Obama home to Kenya or wherever it is" pic.twitter.com/90L1xnWf6v
— Steve Morris (@stevemorris__) February 27, 2019
Three days later Meadows made similar remarks at another Tea Party event.
Congressman Meadows is not just anti-gay, but homophobic and an anti-LGBTQ extremist. Last August Meadows signed on to an amicus brief telling the U.S. Supreme Court that LGBTQ people do not exist, but rather are choosing “actions, behaviors, or inclinations.” That is false.
The brief says the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not – and should not be interpreted to – protect gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people.
Meadows is also among the 38 House Republicans who signed a 2017 letter urging President Trump to remove protections for LGBTQ workers from his new USMCA trade pact.
In 2013 Meadows said same-sex couples legally being allowed to marry would create “a constitutional crisis.” He is also one of the anti-LGBTQ extremists credited as a major force behind President Donald Trump‘s out-of-the blue, July 26, 2017 tweetstorm announcing he was banning all transgender people from the U.S. Armed Forces.
And as head of the Freedom Caucus, Meadows urged President Trump, even before he was sworn into office, to roll back or rescind a variety of President Barack Obama’s LGBTQ protections, including guidelines to help protect the rights of transgender students. The administration, via Secretary Betsy DeVos and then-Attorney General Jeff Session, complied.
There are other concerns about Meadows as well:
Mark Meadows has even less managerial experience than the incompetent Mulvaney. Is anyone at all focused on managing this public health crisis?
— Neera Tanden (@neeratanden) March 7, 2020
Mark Meadows has the second most visits to Trump properties of anyone in the House of Representatives https://t.co/6tVDHb9DeB
— Citizens for Ethics (@CREWcrew) March 7, 2020
Back in 2018, Rep. Mark Meadows was under investigation by the House Committee on Ethics for paying his chief of staff, Kenny West, after he was let go for harassment.
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) March 7, 2020
Meadows was just named Trump’s newest chief of staff. https://t.co/5Jp3T2R1sG
Same one:https://t.co/5nvPbWdQ8a
— Katie Phang (@KatiePhang) March 7, 2020
Same Mark Meadows who stormed a SCIF:https://t.co/v9r1j8Um8r
— Katie Phang (@KatiePhang) March 7, 2020
Same guy:https://t.co/k08LlB840Q
— Katie Phang (@KatiePhang) March 7, 2020
Remember this one?https://t.co/31UJ9MCOUU
— Katie Phang (@KatiePhang) March 7, 2020
Not exactly ideal timing to change the person running the White House. I realize that @MarkMeadows had been lobbying for this job, and Mulvaney may have wanted to leave. I guess it doesn’t matter, since this is just another lackey. The pandemic, though. https://t.co/ev6iVxwEUy
— Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) March 7, 2020
Written by David Badash, The New Civil Rights Movement. Image via NCRM
