Ron Paul's Viciously Homophobic Statements Revealed

As Ron Paul campaigns for the GOP presidential nomination, statements attributed to him in newsletters are coming back to haunt him. The alleged statements concerning gays, black and Jews are being likened to hate speech.

In one of his newsletters, Paul attacked AIDS victims and said that they "enjoy the attention and pity that comes with being sick," Reuters reported in a Dec. 23 article.

Paul also says that individuals suffering with AIDS should not be allowed to eat in restaurants because "AIDS can be transmitted by saliva," the Weekly Standard reported.

The politician then slams Martin Luther King Jr., calling him a "world-class philanderer who beat up his paramours" and that he "seduced underage boys and girls." Paul also called the holiday named Luther's honor "Hate Whitey Day."

Since his newsletters were first caught by the public eye in 2008, Paul has yet to thoroughly explain his remarks.

In 1992 a newsletter about the Los Angeles riots was called "A Special Issue on Racial Terrorism," and it said, "The criminals who terrorized our cities - in riots and on every non-riot day - are not exclusively young black males, but they largely are." It went on to say: "Order was only restored in L.A. when it came time for the blacks to pick up their welfare checks three days after rioting began," the Des Moines Register reported in a Dec. 28 article.

When Paul ran for president in 2008, the media started focusing on the newsletters and the issue has once again popped up in this election.

Paul has defended himself by saying that he did not write the newsletters' content and accused other staff members and contributors for writing the bigoted copy.

"I never read that stuff," Paul said in an interview on CNN last week. "I was probably aware of it 10 years after it was written, and it's been going on 20 years that people have pestered me about this."

In a recent interview with the New York Times, he said, "I disavow those positions. They're not my positions, and anybody who knows me, they've never heard a word of it."

One reason many Americans do not believe Paul's defenses is because several of the newsletters seemed to be written by Paul and carried titles, such as, "Ron Paul's Freedom Report," "Ron Paul Survival Report," or "Ron Paul Political Report." In addition, the newsletters' mastheads credited the politician as editor and publisher.

A former aide to Ron Paul recently wrote an article for RightWing News in order to set the record straight about the newsletters and Paul's views on African-Americans, Israel and gays.

Eric Dondero was a senior aide and campaign organizer for the politician and says that Paul has hired several African-Americans and Latinos. Dondero goes on to say that he would "describe [Paul] out of touch, with both Hispanic and Black culture."

Dondero also says Paul is absolutely not anti-Semitic.

"I can categorically say that I never heard anything out of his mouth, in hundreds of speeches I listened to over the years, or in my personal presence that could be called, 'Anti-Semite.' No slurs. No derogatory remarks," Dondero writes.

Dondero, says, however, that Paul "wishes the Israeli state did not exist at all."

The former aide then begs the question, "Is Ron Paul a homo-phone?" He answers his own question with, "Well, yes and no. He is not all bigoted towards homosexuals. He supports their rights to do whatever they please in their private lives. He is however, personally uncomfortable around homosexuals, no different from a lot of older folks of his era."

Dondero goes on to tell a tale of when the politician became friends with openly gay Libertarian supporter, Jim Peron. When Paul and Dondero visited Peron at his home, Paul told Dondero to find an excuse to excuse him to a local fast food restaurant so he could use the bathroom." Even though Paul liked Peron, he was uncomfortable using his bathroom because of his sexual orientation.

The newsletters even impacted Andrew Sullivan, a longtime Ron Paul supporter and writer for the Daily Beast. He recently blogged that he is rethinking backing the politician.

"A fringe protest candidate need not fully address issues two decades ago that do not in any way reflect the campaign he has run or the issues on which he has made an appeal," he wrote in a Dec. 24 posting. "But a man who could win the Iowa caucuses and is now third in national polls has to have a plausible answer for this."

American Idol winner and gay icon, Kelly Clarkson recently tweeted her support for Paul, EDGE reported. She was immediately hit with backlash from fans and Twitterers who sent her articles of Paul's bigoted statements.