Gov. Pat McCrory is having a hard time finding a friend after signing anti-LGBTQ law HB2 into law, which has driven jobs and revenue from the state faster than you can say, “Moronic little bigot of a Tar Heel state.”
McCrory reached out to the anti-LGBTQ crowd in Raleigh on Friday, the only people who are still willing to have him around it seems, speaking at an event hosted by the Family Research Council.
Sitting on a stage with Tony Perkins, McCrory said that he has been the victim of verbal assaults and death threats since signing the controversial and costly bill into law, and that his wife has been “shunned” from attending social events.
“You’re being purged because of your silence,” he told the crowd. “The people who are speaking up are being purged and I’m seeing it every day…And so the purging is out there, the purging of norms, the purging of money, the purging of being embarrassed, the purging of being called a bigot. Which is an insult to me, because I’m the farthest thing from a bigot.”
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“I love everyone and I’m going to treat everyone equally,” McCrory said. “I want to treat people who are transgender – I want to hug ’em and say I love ’em. But I don’t agree with the concept of redefining gender. That is a major societal change.”
He admitted in an interview with Chuck Todd on “Meet the Press” that he did not meet with any transgender individuals before signing HB2 into law.
“It’s almost like the George Orwell book 1984, where if you disagree with Big Brother, or you go against the thought police, if you remember that book, you will be purged and you will disappear,” he said. “My wife, for example, in Charlotte, she primarily stays in Charlotte. She’s been disinvited to charity events, and basically, they call her up and they say, ‘you know, you better not come. You better not come.”
“My wife and I, we’re being shunned for a political disagreement, a value disagreement,” he continued. “And it’s personal, it’s death threats. Last week I was verbally assaulted by a 21-year-old drunk student. And she was arrested. And those are tough. Everyone says, ‘Gosh you must have thick skin.’ I don’t have thick skin, I just hide it…It gets to me, I just hide it until I go home and sit in a room or walk a dog and I go, ‘Wow, this is depressing.’ So I need to let you know it’s not easy.”
He added that business leaders are saying they cannot support him because of HB2, but that they wish they still could.
“The head of Bank of America now, or some other companies that just this week told me they cannot support me, although you’ve been an outstanding governor, we still cannot support you because [the LGBT advocacy group Human Rights Campaign] will attack us. And I’ve had at least five this week tell me that,”he claimed.
Bank of America presents itself as being pro-LGBTQ. The Bank of America Charlotte Pride Parade is named in their honor, as they are a big money sponsor to the event.
When reached for comment Bank of America spokesperson Ferris Morrison said they were unaware of what statements McCrory made during the event and suggested we seek clarification from him instead.
You can listen to audio from the event, obtained by BuzzFeed, below.
