On this day in both 2014, in 2015, 2016, 2017, and in 2019, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” posted profiles of Steve Scheffler, a member of the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition and the 2016 Republican National Committee who is one of the key driving forces behind the GOP’s endless campaign against LGBTQ rights and same sex marriage. In effect, when Republican presidential campaigns go through Iowa every four years, their road to the nomination goes through him, no detours. Any perceived “moderate” stance on gay rights is a death sentence in a candidate, and Scheffler is the judge and executioner who carries it out.
Scheffler, who once worked on the 1988 presidential campaign of Pat Robertson, publicly admonished John McCain for having the nerve to have an appearance on the Ellen Degeneres Show, warned the legalization of gay marriage in Iowa would make Des Moines “the homosexual capital of the Mid-West”. Scheffler also made it a point to block gay Republican candidate Fred Karger from participating in GOP debates, and with the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition, claims there are scientific studies that gay men only live to an average age of 47, that gay conversion therapy works, and that if social conservatives win the culture wars, it will result in an endgame where Jesus returns to Earth.
Steve Scheffler served on the GOP’s Platform Committee in 2016 and in 2020. You may have heard something about that platform, the one that was the most extreme party platform on social issues the GOP has ever put forth, including opposition to abortion even in cases of rape and incest, requiring the Bible to be taught in public high schools.
Steve Scheffler, has outright said that he conflates his religion and his politics completely, saying that progressive Christians “Don’t preach the gospel. They preach a social doctrine of whatever fits their personal agenda.” Just… wait for the irony, it’s coming right around the bend.
He has spent most of the past several years also trying to cement Donald Trump as the GOP’s 2020 nominee for president, showing the utter hypocrisy of a man who prides himself on “faith” and “values” rallying around one of the worst examples of morality on the planet while marveling at the supposed enthusiasm his party had for the worst president in modern history.
With Trump defeated in 2020, we’re curious if Steve Scheffler continues trying to rally the troops around him in 2024, or if he abandons him to find someone who better fits the ideals of Republican-branded Christian hypocrisy instead.
One Year Ago, November 23rd, 2019: Steve Scheffler (IA)… 2019 Update
Two Years Ago, November 23rd, 2018: Leslie Gibson (ME)… Original Profile
Three Years Ago, November 23rd, 2017: Steve Scheffler (IA)… 2017 Update
Four Years Ago, November 23rd, 2016: Steve Scheffler (IA)… 2016 Update
Five Years Ago, November 23rd, 2015: Steve Scheffler (IA)… 2015 Update
Six Years Ago, November 23rd, 2014: Steve Scheffler (IA)…Original Profile