Gordon Klingenschmitt is a former Navy chaplain who became a Religious Right celebrity when he was court-martialed for repeatedly violating Navy rules prohibiting him from appearing at political events in uniform. Upon being discharged from the Navy, Klingenschmitt launched an organization called Pray In Jesus Name and became a full-time Religious Right activist.
In 2014, Klingenschmitt was elected as a Republican to a seat in the Colorado state House of Representatives, and his tenure was marked by controversy, so much so that he was even stripped of a committee assignment at one point. While serving in office, Klingenschmitt continued to produce his daily television program, which served as a venue to disseminate his extreme views about everything from Islam to homosexuality to abortion to demon possession. Despite his toxic reputation, Klingenschmitt ran for a seat in the state Senate in 2016, but lost in the Republican primary, bringing his short tenure in office to an end.
