Yesterday on “Washington Watch,” Rep. Louie Gohmert blamed President Obama for the conspiracy theories surrounding the U.S. military’s upcoming Jade Helm 15 drill, which certain far-right activists believe is a prelude to a military takeover of conservative-leaning states like Texas.
Gohmert, who revealed that he recently met with military officials about the exercise, told the Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins that the president incited anti-government sentiment because of the administration’s role in the Little Sisters of the Poor case, which involves a Catholic group that does not want to sign a waiver to become exempt from the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive coverage mandate.
“From this administration’s standpoint, if you’re a saintly nun that has dedicated your life to helping the helpless, well, we’ve got to sue you and force you into our program, forget your religious beliefs, we’re coming after you,” Gohmert said. “This is the kind of thing this administration does, they help make people concerned about their government.”
Gohmert then brought up the Posse Comitatus Act, the post-Civil War law that barred federal troops from protecting the rights of African Americans in the South, which became a building block of a far-right, anti-government ideology. This led him to discuss the 1993 Waco incident using an incomprehensible impression of Bill Clinton.
“This is a cause of concern because the military and the United States president is not doing enough to explain why they consider part of the United States hostile,” Gohmert said, before adding that the president is “untruthful” and has given people “abundant reason to be distrustful.”
Gohmert, who has defended the Jade Helm 15 conspiracy theorists, added that he still isn’t satisfied with the military’s answers to his questions concerning the exercise.
