The second time wasn’t the charm for President Donald Trump on Friday, as another of his picks for secretary of the Army dropped out of consideration.
Republican Tennessee state Senator Mark Green withdrew his name after coming under fire for harsh comments he’s made about Muslims and LGBTQ people.
“Tragically, my life of public service and my Christian beliefs have been mischaracterized and attacked by a few on the other side of the aisle for political gain,” Green, a former Army surgeon and a West Point graduate, said in a statement on his Facebook page.
The blow comes three months after Trump’s first nominee, wealthy financier and West Point graduate Vincent Viola, withdrew after reportedly concluding that he could not sell off his business holdings.
Advocacy groups and senators on both sides of the aisles had expressed concern about several of Green’s disturbing past comments.
“While these false attacks have no bearing on the needs of the Army or my qualifications to serve,” Green’s statement continued, “I believe it is critical to give the President the ability to move forward with his vision to restore our military to its rightful place in the world.”
During a Tea Party event in Chattanooga last year, for example, Green called being transgender “a disease” and appeared to suggest that citizens should engaged in armed revolution after the Obama administration opposed state laws that bar transgender people from using the restroom that matches their gender.
“We are back to where the country was at its beginning, and it’s the armed citizen who will defend this nation,” Green said.
Green has sponsored a bevy of legislation in Tennessee that would ensconce LGBTQ discrimination within state law and shield private businesses from the obligation to follow equal rights laws, as ThinkProgress reported early last month.
He has also spoken publicly about “Muslim hordes” and claimed to know of public schools promoting “the indoctrination of Islam,” according to The Guardian.
John McCain, the Republican chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a former prisoner of war in Vietnam, called Green’s comments “very concerning” in an interview with USA Today last week.
Congressional Democrats and advocacy groups welcomed the news of Green’s withdrawal. Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., tweeting Friday afternoon that Green’s withdrawal is “good news for all Americans, especially those he disparaged & vilified.”