#3064: Warren Hurst

Dredging up some more old garbage here: Warren Hurst was – or is, for all we know – a member of the Sevier County Commission in Tennessee who got a bit of national attention back in 2019 for a seven-minute rant he did during a county commission meeting. One target was, of course, zeh gays – Pete Buttigieg in particular: “It’s time we wake up people […] We got a queer running for president, if that ain’t about as ugly as you can get,” said Hurst: “Look what we got running for president in the Democratic party. We can go over here to Hoss’s jail [Sevier County Sheriff] and get better people out of there than those running for democratic to be President of the United States.” Then, he presented his opinion on race: “I’m not prejudiced, a white male in this country has very few rights and they’re getting took more every day,” Hurst told the (all-white) county commission; later, in response to critics, he defended himself by saying that some of his best friends were African American; he nevertheless stood by his comments because he’s entitled to his opinions, which really isn’t the issue. Later, the Tennessee House of Representative passed a resolution to honor Hurst.

 

Diagnosis: Old, angry and stupid sod. The thing to worry about here is really all those in the audience who cheered and agreed, and those for whom this is just local politics as usual.