WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald Trump’s nomination for chief scientist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Sam Clovis, has withdrawn himself from consideration.
Clovis is among the worst in a long line of anti-LGBTQ extremists nominated by Donald Trump and Mike Pence. Clovis has a disturbing history of anti-LGBTQ extremism, as reported by CNN. Clovis, who has no scientific background, has repeatedly peddled the falsehood that being LGBTQ is a “choice.” Clovis has also equated protecting LGBTQ people from discrimination with protecting pedophiles, and he opposes marriage equality.
CNN reported that Clovis’ nomination was imperiled over his connections to the ongoing Russia probe. The development is the latest sign that Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into the Trump campaign and Russian collusion is impacting the day-to-day of Trump’s administration, despite top White House aides — including Trump himself — claiming that the indictments of former top Trump campaign advisers Paul Manafort and Rick Gates had nothing to do with the administration or the campaign.
“Sam Clovis has opposed equality for LGBTQ people at practically every turn and even pushed the unscientific nonsense that being LGBTQ is a choice,” said HRC Government Affairs Director David Stacy. “It’s disconcerting that the Trump-Pence administration continues to nominate candidates who are as extreme as they are unqualified. Sam Clovis certainly fit that description, and while his nomination has today been withdrawn, it’s absolutely essential that the Senate reject the scores of other dangerous nominees this administration continues to push forward.”
