Photo: Pastor Mark Burns in Cleveland, July 21, 2016. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Pro-Trump Pastor Mark Burns says he wants LGBTQ “indoctrinators” and people engaged in “un-American” activities executed for treason.
LGBTQ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer.
Burns wants Congress to relaunch the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) to hold people “accountable for treason,” he told Newsweek.
HUAC was created in 1938 to investigate private citizens, public employees and organizations who had been accused of disloyalty and of rebel activities, especially those who allegedly had Communist ties. The House of Representatives abolished the committee in 1975.
MAGA pastor Burns is an evangelical minister and televangelist at the Harvest Praise & Worship Center in South Carolina. He co-founded the South Carolina-based Christian TV network NOW.
A loyal supporter of former President Donald Trump, Burns was a Republican congressional candidate in 2018 to represent South Carolina’s 4th congressional district. He ran again for the same district in the recent 2022 primary election. Out of a field of four candidates, Burns came in second on June 14, garnering 23.8 percent of the votes. Candidate William Timmons captured the Republican nomination.
Prior to the primary, Burns did an interview with The Stew Peters Show during which he said that parents and teachers who talk with children about LGBTQ issues pose a “national security threat” to the United States and added that those found guilty of “treason” should be executed.
Burns suggested jailing parents “for abusing their child’s mind” and added that teachers who are “teaching that LGBT, transgenderism, furries, you know, the groomers, any sexual orientation communication in the school system should be immediately terminated” and “held for abusing young children.”
“We need to hold people for treason,” he added, “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.”
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Over the years, Burns has made other controversial statements.
During the 2016 presidential campaign, when Burns was Trump’s go-to campaign-trail pastor, he denounced presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
Burns tweeted a cartoon of Hillary Clinton in blackface with the message, “Black Americans, THANK YOU FOR YOUR VOTES and letting me use you again..See you again in 4 years,” The Daily Beast reported.
In 2106, CNN reported that Burns had falsified biographical information. Burns said he had a bachelor of science degree and served six years in the Army Reserve. When confronted by the network, Burns admitted falsifying some of his professional accomplishments. He was never in the Army Reserve, but he did serve in the South Carolina National Guard. As far as a bachelor’s degree, North Greenville University told CNN that Burns only attended the school for one semester.
Photo: Pastor Mark Burns speaks during the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, July 21, 2016. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
