Welcome to what is the 786th original profile on the “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” blog, where we’re going to discuss Pastor Mark Burns, who in 2018, was one of thirteen… yes THIRTEEN challengers trying to run for U.S. House of Representatives in South Carolina’s 4th Congressional District, hoping to replace the chief exploiter of Benghazi, Trey Gowdy, who opted to resign after realizing he wouldn’t be able to turn House Oversight Committee hearings into a three-ring circus while in the minority party after the Blue Wave hit.
Anyway, Mark Burns is renowned for being the sort of Evangelical charlatan who endorses the so-called “Prosperity Gospel” that ignores most of the actual teachings of Jesus when it comes to wealth and charity, and was drawn into the spotlight of the GOP when Donald Trump asked that he give the opening prayer at the four-day hate rally that the 2016 Republican National Convention. In that benediction, Burns referred to Democrats as “the enemy” and called upon God to defeat Hillary Clinton, so that’s a little much.
That was far from the last he was heard from during the 2016 campaign, though, because he began serving as a Trump surrogate, by doing things like defending Trump from being openly racist towards Judge Gonzalo Curiel, while sharing racist memes about Democrats, including a cartoon of Hillary Clinton in Blackface on social media. As one does in the name of the Lord.
Not even a week after making headlines with that behavior, Pastor Burns sat down for an interview with Victor Blackwell of CNN, who came with receipts to read him for filth. Specifically, Blackwell wanted Burns to address several falsehoods on his church’s website that falsely claimed to have membership in the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, and served six years in the Army Reserve (South Carolina National Guard, in reality). When the interview was obviously not going Burns’ way, he tried claiming that he’d only agreed to talk to Blackwell “off the record”, and got up and walked out mid-interview. Within 24 hours, the church’s website deleted the lies from the pastor’s resume. Mark Burns then tried claiming he was the victim in everything for being “a black man supporting Donald Trump for President.”
Pastor Burns continued to defend Donald Trump from warranted accusations that he was a racist for years, including in January of 2018 when Trump was facing public scrutiny for referring to Haiti and several African nations as “s***hole countries”. After another disastrous interview, this time with MSNBC’s Joy Reid where he embarrassed himself trying to shield Donald Trump from being called a racist when he obvious is, he made the very levelheaded decision to release a video on social media where he asked why Reid “doesn’t move to Haiti?” Joy Reid responded by quoting the Bible back at the pastor, which is fitting since he seems so confused about what’s actually in the book in the first place.
Anyway, the only real steps Mark Burns took to repair his image with voters prior to his attempt at getting elected to Congress in 2018 was to start wearing colored contacts and make people think he had blue eyes. It didn’t help much. Burns finished eighth out of the thirteen Republican candidates vying for Trey Gowdy’s old seat, only getting 2.5% of the vote. Back in 2017, he was making noise about challenging Lindsey Graham for his Senate seat in 2020, but given how Graham has capitulated to being a Trump Republican, and Burns’ performance in 2018, we’re pretty sure he’ll be content to just be the opening act at the 2020 RNC/Bigoted Sideshow like he did in 2016.
One Year Ago, September 21st, 2018: Tim Murphy (PA)… 2018 Update
Two Years Ago, September 21st, 2017: Tim Murphy (PA)… 2017 Update
Three Years Ago, September 21st, 2016: Tim Murphy (PA)… 2016 Update
Four Years Ago, September 21st, 2015: Tim Murphy (PA)… Original Profile
Five Years Ago, September 21st, 2014: Jake Knotts (SC)
