Warren Hurst, Tennessee Official, Complains That A ‘Queer’ Is Running For President

A Tennessee official went on a rampage against the Democratic Party’s candidates for president during a debate about guns where he exclaimed that a “queer” was running for president in a seemingly homophobic rant against South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

According to local Knoxville, Tennessee CBS affiliate WVLT, Sevier County Commissioner Warren Hurst on Monday used his time on the floor in order to launch an attack against the Democratic candidates for president.

“We got a queer running for president, if that ain’t about as ugly as you can get,” he said. “Look what we got running for president in the Democratic party. We can go over here to Hoss’s jail and get better people out of there than those running for democratic to be President of the United States.”

“Hoss’s jail” is seemingly a reference to the jail operated by the Sevier County Sheriff, Ronald “Hoss” Seals, per the the website for the Servier County Sheriff.

According to WVLT, in response to his comment, a woman in the audience stood up, shouted at Hurst that he was being unprofessional, and walked out of the meeting. Hurst continued his rant, however, and went on to claim that white men have few rights in America and that more were being taken from them every day.

Hurst reportedly said that he wasn’t prejudiced. In an interview with the Knoxville news station, Hurst insisted that some of his friends were African American, but he stood by his comments because he was entitled to have his own opinion. Some people in the audience reportedly cheered for Hurst following his statements on Monday.

In response, the office of the Sevier County, Tennessee mayor released a statement condemning Hurst’s homophobic remarks.

“The statements made by Commissioner Hurst at the Sevier County Commission meeting of October 21, 2019, do not reflect the opinion or position of Sevier County administration,” an assistant to Sevier County Mayor Larry Waters said.

While the article does not state that he mentioned South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg by name, Hurst’s comments were likely referring to Buttigieg who is the only openly LGBTQ+ candidate running in the Democratic Party’s primary. Buttigieg has been open about his sexuality during his campaign for the White House.

As The Inquisitr previously reported, in August, Buttigieg, who himself is religious, slammed Vice President Mike Pence for his support of President Donald Trump and his policies. As The Inquisitr noted, Pence is seen as one of the most anti-LGBTQ+ politicians currently in office. Buttigieg went on to criticize Pence for supporting the actions of President Trump, claiming that they didn’t align with his own Christian values.