WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump’s pick for Army secretary isn’t fit to lead the service, a senator wounded in combat said Friday as scrutiny over the nomination intensified.
Democrat Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, who lost her legs and partial use of her right arm during the Iraq war, said she’s opposing Mark Green’s nomination over his insensitive remarks and attitudes toward LGBT Americans and Muslims.
Green, a Republican state senator from Tennessee, has called being transgender a “disease.” He’s also referred to the “Muslim horde” that invaded Constantinople hundreds of years ago and agreed that a stand must be taken against “the indoctrination of Islam in our public schools.”
“Confirming someone with Dr. Green’s attitudes towards Muslim, gay, lesbian and transgender Americans would send the wrong message to brave and selfless Americans who simply wish to serve their nation,” Duckworth said in a statement.
Also on Friday, a coalition of 41 organizations led by the Human Rights Campaign called on the leaders of the Senate Armed Services Committee to reject Green’s nomination. The letter to Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Jack Reed of Rhode Island said Green’s “shameful rhetoric” is at odds with the Army’s core values and will affect recruiting.