Martyr Movie: Ted Cruz’s Claims About ‘Religious Freedom’ Persecution Were Debunked Long Ago
Last week, Cruz staged an Iowa rally with “special guests victimized by government persecution.” He followed that event with the release of a campaign video filled with supposed “religious liberty” martyrs. But there’s one big problem - most of the claims about these people are not only false, they were debunked years ago in some instances.
As Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern wrote yesterday, Cruz made some big, bogus claims. Among them was the story of Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Phillip Monk, who was supposedly “relieved of duty for expressing a traditional view of marriage.”
Monk claimed that he was taken out of his position at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas in July 2013 because he disagreed with his commanding officer’s stand on marriage equality. Monk, who had been first sergeant of the base, said that he was penalized after he and his superior officer, a major, disagreed over what actions should be taken against a military training instructor who made discriminatory remarks against gays during a session with trainees.
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