State Senate hopeful said Catholic opponent in 2016 race was ‘anti God,’ Muslim. Now he’s apologizing

Republican state Senate candidate Marty McClendon is apologizing for his 2016 comments on an online talk show hosted by a Stanwood pastor who espouses false theories, including that former President Barack Obama is Muslim.

McClendon, who was running for lieutenant governor against Democrat Cyrus Habib at the time of his appearance on Jonathan Hansen’s “Warning TV,” called his Iranian American, Catholic opponent “anti God” and appeared to question his religion.

“My opponent is not a Christian,” McClendon said on the program. “In fact, many call him a Muslim.”

During the segment, McClendon was asked what makes him different from Habib, and he also contrasted himself with Habib on a range of issues such as abortion and gun regulation.

McClendon, a Gig Harbor Realtor, pastor and conservative talk show host, now is running against Democrat Emily Randall in a key state Senate race in the 26th Legislative District.

McClendon was asked by The News Tribune to explain his remarks after the newspaper found the previously unpublicized video in a search on YouTube.

In an interview Monday, McClendon said he “misspoke” when calling Habib “anti God,” which he added “was just wrong.” In a follow-up news release Tuesday, he said the comment was meant to be a jab at Habib’s “extreme left wing views,” but that it was “unnecessary.”

McClendon also said in the interview he’d been told in error by “several” supporters that Habib was Muslim. He said he later learned Habib was Catholic, which he doesn’t question. He added: “I apologize for not verifying the fact at the time.”

McClendon said he believes that if Habib were Muslim, it would not be a reason to vote against him.

“We need faithful Muslims and Christians of good will to come together and help build our society,” McClendon said.

The episode was removed from YouTube as of Tuesday morning. Hansen did not immediately return a call to his organization World Ministries International.

The appearance on Hansen’s show is not the first time McClendon has been involved in a controversy over Habib’s background.

Shortly after the episode of “Warning TV” was published in September 2016, McClendon drew criticism for his speech at a gun-rights rally in Olympia when he did not immediately reject comments from onlookers in the crowd who questioned Habib’s citizenship. Habib was born in Baltimore.

McClendon publicly disavowed the comments from the crowd after his speech was reported on by the Huffington Post.

Before McClendon’s latest apology, Habib said in a statement provided to The News Tribune that he hopes McClendon “finds a way to overcome the bigotry in his heart, and to heal the wounds he has caused with his extremist positions.”

“I don’t know what type of Christianity Marty is talking about, but when I go to Mass every Sunday, I’m taught the importance of compassion and tolerance,” Habib said. “Calling Catholics and Muslims ‘anti-God’ is a bad way to campaign, and an even worse way to live.”

After McClendon’s explanation, Habib said it’s good when people apologize and said there is room for mistakes and learning by candidates. But he added voters still should decide whether McClendon has a track record of questionable comments and positions.

“I think when your learning on the job involves saying things that can be harmful to large swaths of constituents — and when there’s a pattern of that — that really ought to make people question,” he said.

For years, Hansen has pushed numerous false theories and conspiracies — such as “birtherism”-type claims about Obama — and has portrayed Islam as a barbaric, violent and even demonic religion.

On his website, Hansen claims to have predicted several events, including the 9/11 terrorist attacks and financial crises in Asia during the 1990s. His website says he visited New Orleans three times before Hurricane Katrina, “warning that judgment was coming due to the wickedness taking place in that city.”

Hansen appears to believe in the looming threat of a totalitarian world government created by elites, known as the New World Order.

McClendon said he wasn’t aware of Hansen’s views when he agreed to go on “Warning TV.” He said a pastor friend of his told him the show had a statewide audience and the host was a pastor. McClendon said he doesn’t share Hansen’s opinions.

“Obviously it makes me rethink ever going on the show,” McClendon said. “I wouldn’t do it now.”

On the episode with McClendon, the two appear to find common ground when discussing a theory surrounding Agenda 21, a nonbinding 1992 United Nations agreement for sustainable development and international cooperation.

Some believe Agenda 21 is actually a plan for totalitarian denial of property rights to promote environmentalism. The idea has gained some traction in the Tea Party and the GOP around the country.

McClendon said on Hansen’s program that metering wells to monitor water use, a controversial conservation tactic in Washington, was an unconstitutional way to take away rights and “is part of that whole Agenda 21.”

While the two spoke about Agenda 21, the show flashed graphics on the screen, including one that stated, “Agenda 21 is Evil,” with the “E” in evil represented as a communist hammer and sickle.

McClendon said Monday he is “not an expert on Agenda 21,” but was only trying to say he believes property rights are “essential to our freedom” and have been eroding in the United States. He said he was not trying to say well metering was a byproduct of Agenda 21, only that both are examples of concerns over loss of property rights.

The scrutiny of McClendon’s appearance on “Warning TV” comes as he is attacking Randall in the state Senate race as too politically radical.

He points to a 2017 podcast appearance by Randall in which a host joked about having to murder many politicians in the presidential line of succession to find a palatable successor to President Donald Trump.

In one recent advertisement, the narrator proclaims McClendon is “not an extremist.”

McClendon said he doesn’t think his comments on Hansen’s show are in conflict with the advertisement, saying it was “one video where I clearly misspoke and I was going off false information.”

“My view has been really consistent about bringing people together, loving your neighbor,” he added.

In the future, McClendon said, “I’ll need to vet who I talk to better.”

This story was originally published July 31, 2018 at 11:20 AM with the headline "State Senate hopeful said Catholic opponent in 2016 race was ‘anti God,’ Muslim. Now he’s apologizing."