In what was otherwise a really long, and fairly annoying interview with global warming denier, Sen. James Inhofe, Rachel Maddow did end up making the senator look extremely uncomfortable when she asked him about his ties to The Family and Doug Coe and and the return of the "kill the gays" bill in Uganda and whether he was for or against it.
Inhofe's first reaction was to feign indignation when Maddow brought up one of her shows from 2009 where she mentioned Sen. Inhofe and the fact that he took her out of context in his book, which was supposed to be the topic of the interview.
INHOFE: Are you saying, are you suggesting Rachel, and I want to make sure that everyone understands this, that I am for executing gays? That I somehow knew something about what their philosophy is over there and what they're doing legislatively?
I know Uganda. I know Ethiopia, I know Ghana, I know Benin. I know Africa, better than anyone else, certainly in the United States Senate. I've spent a lot of time over there. I've developed close relations over there. And when 9-11 happened, I was the only member of the Armed Services Committee who knew where Africa was and we were making a decision then to get into Africa to help train them, to resist all these things that are coming into the country and the continent, that's what I did. So I do know Africa well.
As far as Doug Coe is concerned, you know I think, when you hear about persecution for the sake of righteousness, I can't think of a better example. I wish you knew Doug Coe. I've never known anyone in my life that just loves everyone and I see him persecuted and my heart bleeds for him and I do... I am sorry that you did that.
Maddow went on to read from a New York Times article which made this claim about The Family being the inspiration for the bill:
It was in the United States, Mr. Bahati contended, that he first became close with a group of influential social conservatives, including politicians, known as The Fellowship, which would later become a base of inspiration and technical support for the anti-homosexuality bill.
Mr. Bahati said the idea for the bill first sprang from a conversation with members of The Fellowship in 2008, because it was “too late” in America to propose such legislation. Now, he said, he feels abandoned.
Inhofe's response... who's David Bahati? So right after telling Rachel Maddow just how much he knows about Africa and how much time he spends over there, he's going to pretend he doesn't know who this guy is. Riiiigghht.
Maybe Rachel Maddow will bring Jeff Sharlet back in for some fact checking on Inhofe's statement. They could probably spend the better part of a week just trying to debunk all the lies he told in the first half of the interview where they were talking about his book and global warming.
Here are some of the earlier interviews from Rachel Maddow's show with Jeff Sharlet for anyone who is not already familiar with the "kill the gays" bill and the reporting Jeff Sharlet did on the topic back in 2009.
Rachel Maddow: C-Street Exposed in World Magazine
The Rachel Maddow Show: U.S. Ties to Ugandan Anti-Gay Bill
