MAGA Pastor who called for LGBTQ-related executions says he’s been misunderstood

A pastor and former GOP congressional candidate has attempted to backtrack on comments he made recently about executing people who promote LGBTQ rights.

Pastor Mark Burns was running for South Carolina’s 4th Congressional house seat. He lost his Republican primary on June 14.

Before the primary, the Trump devotee made headlines for his extreme views.

On The Stew Peters Show a couple of weeks ago, he said parents who support their LGBTQ kids be charged with child abuse.

“Because there’s no such thing as trans kids, there’s only abusive parents. Period,” Burns said. He 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.”

He also said parents and teachers who talk with kids about LGBTQ issues pose a “national security threat” to the United States, adding those found guilty of “treason” should be executed for spreading their “evil, evil” views.

He said it reminded him of how the Nazis indoctrinated children in the 1930s and it was destabilizing the country.

Related: Anti-gay hate pastor proudly spews his vile nonsense to little kids

If elected, he said he wanted to bring back the House Un-American Activities Committee, the committee that was started in 1938 to investigate subversive citizens with ties to communism before it was abolished in 1975.

“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 Joe Biden’s gun-grabbing Second Amendment law that he’s trying to push forward,” Burns said.

“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.”

You can watch the interview below.

Asked for clarification, Burns later told Newsweek that “liberal media like CNN have gone easy on sex abuse and trafficking and grooming of minors, which should be a capitol [sic] offense punishable by death.”

Related: North Carolina’s Lt. Gov. calls homosexuality “filth”, says guns are gift from God

This week, talking to conservative podcasters Diamond and Silk, Burns expressed his frustration at how his hateful comments had been reported.

He said if people had watched the show in its entirety, “then you would clearly hear me not say that we should be killing the LGBT or transgender community. We be getting blasted by the gay community, the trans community from all over the country!”

MAGA pastor Mark Burns now denies that he ever asserted that “LGBTQ indoctrination” represents “a national security threat” and that anyone engaged in it should be executed for treason. He is lying. https://t.co/qBpqJuC9r8 https://t.co/AqRTvvwc4x pic.twitter.com/Pwxa24UCrm

— Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) June 21, 2022

He blames the “liberal media … took pieces of two answers … there was two separate topics. I was talking about, yes, we do need to be holding people for treason in America. Those that are doing business with China. Those that are doing business with Iran. That includes elected officials. That includes the media … They need to be held accountable for treason, just like Hilary Clinton. Just like Hunter Biden’s laptop.”

He continued blaming the media, saying, “They took that answer … and then they mixed it with another part of the question about how we should not be allowing the transgender agenda into our public school.”

Mark Burns came second in his primary last week, taking just under 24% of the vote, against rival William Timmons’ 53%. He also lost a GOP primary in the same district in 2018.