Earlier this month, the extremist gun group Gun Owners of America announced that it was endorsing Virginia attorney general Ken Cuccinelli in next month’s gubernatorial contest and urged its supporters to do “everything you can” to elect the Republican. Though Cuccinelli’s campaign doesn’t seem to have touted GOA’s endorsement at the time, it is now prominently featuring the endorsement on its website.
While it’s no surprise that GOA is backing Cuccinelli, Cuccinelli’s touting of the GOA’s endorsement should raise some eyebrows.
GOA is an extreme group that trades in racism and conspiracy theories. The group’s executive director, Larry Pratt is so radical that he was forced out of Pat Buchanan’s 1996 presidential campaign after it became public that he had spoken at white supremacist and militia movement rallies. Just this past fourth of July, Pratt was scheduled to speak alongside a prominent white nationalist at an event hosted by an anti-Semitic rock band.
Today, Pratt regularly appears with far-right fringe talk show hosts including Alex Jones, Stan Solomon and Pete Santilli, where he has:
- Agreed with Solomon that President Obama is instigating a race war pitting “Christian, heterosexual white haves” against “Muslim and/or atheist… black have-nots.”
- Claimed that attorney general Eric Holder was considering charges against George Zimmerman in order to keep white people from defending themselves from “attacks by black mobs.”
- Claimed that immigration reform would bring in “illiterate” and “dependent” immigrants who would be “sitting around drawing welfare and voting Democrat.”
- Speculated that President Obama is building the Department of Homeland Security into his own private army to overpower the US military.
- Claimed that liberals were happy about the Boston Marathon bombing because they “want more control.”
- Called the Obama administration “terrorists” and declared that President Obama “is consistently helping al Qaeda” because he “hates this country.”
- Claimed that the Affordable Care Act would lead to mandatory electro-shock therapy for gun owners and might even put gun owners in concentration camps.
- Speculated that the Aurora theater shooting was an inside job meant to promote gun laws.
GOA’s legislative counsel Michael Hammond and its communications director Erich Pratt (Larry’s son) also push conspiracy theories on fringe media.
So, why is Cuccinelli touting GOA’s endorsement?
