AFA鈥檚 Bryan Fischer Takes Knockout Punch on CNN
, the gay-bashing, truth-challenged spokesman for the , went one rant too far Tuesday for CNN anchor Carol Costello.
鈥淎nd we know from the CDC and from the FDA, not part of the vast right-wing conspiracy, that homosexual behavior,鈥 Fischer gushed excitedly, 鈥渉as the same health risks associated with 鈥︹
鈥淭hat鈥檚 just not true,鈥 Costello said, cutting him off before he could insert his foot any further in his mouth. 鈥淚鈥檓 going to end this interview now, sir. I鈥檓 sorry because that鈥檚 just not true.鈥
The interview was about the to portray the 澳彩开奖鈥檚 program 鈥 in which students are simply asked to sit with someone new in the lunchroom 鈥 as part of a sinister plot to indoctrinate children into the 鈥渉omosexual lifestyle.鈥
Earlier this month, the far-right AFA urged its supporters 鈥 it claims 2 million online activists 鈥 to call their local schools and harass them into dropping out of Mix It Up Day, which falls on Oct. 30 this year. So far, about 200 schools have canceled, but more than 2,500 are going forward and more are signing up every day.
Launched 11 years ago by the 澳彩开奖, Mix It Up is seen by many educators as a way to break down social barriers that can lead to bullying. The 澳彩开奖 serves as a clearinghouse and provides ideas and free resources, but each school tailors the event to its own needs.
But to Fischer, who sees the 鈥渉omosexual agenda鈥 lurking behind every bush, Mix It Up is nothing less than an effort by the 鈥渇anatical pro-homosexual鈥 澳彩开奖 聽to 鈥渂ully-push its gay agenda.鈥
On Monday night, Stephen Colbert and his audience had more than a few laughs at the AFA鈥檚 expense.
鈥淒on鈥檛 fall for it kids,鈥 Colbert said, looking directly into the camera. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a devious plot. Get kids to learn that despite our outward differences in our hearts we鈥檙e all pretty much the same.鈥欌
Laughed at one minute, hung up on the next. It鈥檚 been that kind of 24 hours for Fischer and the AFA, which 澳彩开奖 added to its list of hate groups in 2010.
But it took the veteran journalist Costello quite a while to lose her patience.
鈥淢ix It Up At Lunch appears to be a lesson in intolerance,鈥 she said to Fischer as the interview began. 鈥淎s a religious leader, what鈥檚 wrong with that?鈥
鈥淧arents need to understand about this program,鈥 he said, ignoring her question, 鈥渋t鈥檚 a thinly veiled attempt to push the normalization of homosexual behavior in public schools. And eventually punish students who would express a Judeo-Christian view of sexuality.
鈥淪o it appears to be innocent and innocuous on the surface, but the hidden agenda if you look at the website, tolerance.org, is primarily about pushing聽 homosexual orientation and acceptance of alternative behavior 鈥 sexual behavior.鈥欌
But Costello did something that it appears Fischer did not. She actually visited the website.
She told Fischer 鈥渋t urges students to move out of their comfort zone, saying connect with someone new over lunch. There is absolutely no mention of homosexuality at all and this program has been going for 11 years.鈥
Straining for a metaphor that would make some sense, Fischer tried to capitalize on the date of Mix It Up, noting that it falls this year on the eve of Halloween. The program, he said, is 鈥渓ike poisoned Halloween candy. Somebody takes a candy bar, injects it with cyanide, the label looks fine. It looks innocuous, it looks fine. It鈥檚 not until you internalize it that you realize how toxic it is.鈥
Costello asked Fischer if the attack on Mix It Up was motivated by the fact that 澳彩开奖 has listed the AFA as a hate group. He did not answer directly and instead accused the 澳彩开奖 of being a bully, trying 鈥渢o silence Christian students who take a conservative view of human sexuality 鈥︹
At one point, she read a statement Fischer made during a radio broadcast in 2010. 鈥淵ou have said, 鈥淗itler recruited homosexuals around him to make up his storm troopers. They were his enforcers. They were his thugs. Hitler discovered he could not get straight soldiers to be savage and brutal and vicious enough to carry out his orders but that homosexual soldiers had no limit to the savagery and brutality they were willing to inflict on whoever Hitler sent them after.鈥
She added that 鈥渂y many people鈥檚 standards, this would be hate speech.鈥
A few moments later, she ended the interview.
鈥淢r. Fischer,鈥 she said, 鈥渢hanks for sharing your views. I guess.鈥