Congressman Louie Gohmert (R-TX) has become the latest GOP lawmaker to convey ambiguity on the institution of slavery.
In recent remarks, he seemed to imply that while the slavery era was bad, conditions in the U.S. are even worse today.
According to Huffington Post, while speaking on a conference call with conservative pastor Rick Scarborough, Gohmert warned listeners that the nation could be coming “toward the end of [its] existence,” because its leaders and citizens allegedly neglected to remain true to Biblical teachings.
He said, “We strayed away different times. Andrew Jackson’s time was not a great time, different times slavery was a blot on our existence … But the trouble is we have never as an entire nation overall been so far away from God’s teaching and so openly rebelling, even from the top, against God’s teachings in the Bible.”
Gohmert sparked controversy this summer when he claimed that the Aurora, Colorado movie theater shooting was an example of attacks on Judeo-Christian beliefs, and representative of the weakening of Christian values in America:
“You know what really gets me, as a Christian, is to see the ongoing attacks on Judeo-Christian beliefs, and then some senseless crazy act of terror like this takes place … Some of us happen to believe that when our founders talked about guarding our virtue and freedom, that that was important. … Whether it’s John Adams saying our Constitution was made only for moral and religious people … Ben Franklin, only a virtuous people are capable of freedom, as nations become corrupt and vicious they have more need of masters. … We have been at war with the very pillars, the very foundation of this country.”
The outspoken conservative has also said that President Obama has “helped jump start a new Ottoman Empire” and alleged that “terror babies” are involved in plots to attack the United States.