Over the weekend, Gov. Matt Bevin said that Americans might have to shed blood to protect conservative values if Hillary Clinton is elected president.
Bevin has since clarified that the comments were in reference to the fight against Islamic extremism in the Middle East.
“I want us to be able to fight ideologically, mentally, spiritually, economically so that we don’t have to do it physically, but that may in fact be the case,” Bevin said at a Family Research Council event in Washington D.C. on Saturday.
Bevin went on to say that if Clinton were elected, “patriots” might have to “pay the price” by shedding their own blood and the blood of “tyrants” to help the nation recover.
“Whose blood will be shed? It may be that of those in this room. It might be that of our children and grandchildren. I have nine children. It breaks my heart to think that it might be their blood that is needed to redeem something, to reclaim something, that we through our apathy and our indifference have given away,” Bevin said.
Since taking office last December, Bevin has used his position to vigorously push a conservative agenda. One of his first actions as governor was to pass an executive order removing county clerk’s names from marriage licenses — a change requested by Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis, who refused to sign marriage licenses after the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage.
Bevin has targeted abortion providers in the state, suing clinics in Lexington and Louisville for not meeting licensure requirements. He approved an “informed consent” abortion policy -- the first bill he signed into law.
He’s also joined two multi-state lawsuits over federal policies dealing with transgender people — one that would require public schools to allow transgender students to use the bathrooms of their choice, and another that says medical providers and insurance companies can’t discriminate against transgender patients.
Watch Bevin's speech to the Family Research Council below:
During his speech, Bevin criticized the “degradation of things that are happening in our society.”
“You look at the atrocity of abortion, so many have remained silent," he said. "It’s a slippery slope: first we’re killing children, then it’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, now it’s this gender-bending kind of ‘don’t ask, don’t be a bigot, don’t be unreasonable, don’t be unenlightened heaven forbid, just keep your mouth shut. I encourage young people, step up and be bold. Don’t keep your mouths shut.”
The comments have drawn fire from Democrats. Attorney General Andy Beshear criticized Bevin’s comments in a statement.
“It is grossly irresponsible for a public official to suggest or even to condone physical violence or bloodshed based on the potential outcome of an election,” Beshear said. “Our entire system of government is based on peaceful elections. And being a patriot is not determined by any philosophy, but by service, sacrifice, and commitment to country.”
In response, Bevin said that his speech had been misconstrued and that “Any intelligent person will easily understand the message I delivered.”
“Today we have thousands of men and women in uniform fighting for us overseas and they need our full backing,” Bevin said in a statement.
“We cannot be complacent about the determination of radical Islamic extremists to destroy our freedoms." he said. "Nor can we allow apathy and indifference to allow our culture to crumble from within. We need strong leadership at every level of government to defend our Constitution and our republic. We must fight to preserve the exceptionalism and the promise of America, because America is worth it.”
Democratic congressional candidate Nancy Jo Kemper called for Bevin’s impeachment, saying that his “call to shed the blood of fellow Americans is unconstitutional, and an impeachable violation of his sworn oath to uphold the laws of the Commonwealth.”