Why Texas just became 2014's biggest sideshow
Welcome to the strange world of Rep. Steve Stockman
Move over, Todd Akin: Rep. Steve Stockman of Texas is 2014's version of the Republican most likely to say something crazy on the campaign trail.
Stockman this week announced his candidacy in the Republican primary against incumbent Sen. John Cornyn. Cornyn is not all that vulnerable to a challenge from the right — he's a solidly conservative senator and has the war chest to back it up. Add Stockman's track record of making outlandish comments, and you've got every opposition researcher's dream and very little chance of a Tea Party upset.
But based on those comments, the race should be entertaining, to say the least. Here are eight things you should know about the colorful freshman congressman:
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
1. He compared Obama to Saddam Hussein
In the wake of the Sandy Hook shootings, President Obama indicated that he would use executive actions to implement gun control reforms. Stockman, in turn, threatened to start impeachment proceedings against the president. The day before Obama was set to announce the reforms, Stockman compared the president's decision to invite children to the press conference to Saddam Hussein's "use" of children: "He's even using children, it reminds me of Saddam Hussein when he used kids to —" Stockman said in an interview on Fox News, before getting cut off by a skeptical Greta Van Susteren.
2. He's an ace at trolling liberals
Stockman has often used his Twitter account to troll environmentalists with his thoughts on oil and gas production. "The best thing about the Earth is if you poke holes in it oil and gas come out," he said in one tweet. "There is reportedly $1 trillion in oil off the coast of California. But liberal hatred of science and human progress keeps them bankrupt," he wrote in another. And one more: "Funny thing about liberals hating oil and gas — they're expressing it on computers made from petrochemicals. Why do liberals hate science?"
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
3. He's a birther
Long after the president released his long-form birth certificate, quieting some of the more reasonably-minded conspiracy theorists out there, Stockman didn't let up. He said the birth certificate was possibly "fraudulent," and introduced legislation to investigate its authenticity. Stockman is such a devoted birther, in fact, that he announced his candidacy for Senate on the web's birther mainstay WorldNetDaily.
4. He invited Ted Nugent to the State of the Union
Stockman was also the man who invited Ted Nugent to the State of the Union last February. "He's a very articulate spokesman," Stockman said of Nugent. "I'm excited to have him. I think he gives a balance to what's being said tonight at the White House." Among the many pearls of wisdom Nugent has shared: "Obama, he's a piece of sh*t. I told him to suck on my machine gun."
5. He's a Waco conspiracy theorist
Here's one from the archives: Back in 1995, Stockman accused the Clinton administration of orchestrating the infamous federal raid on a compound in Waco, Texas, as a way to help pass an assault weapons ban. "Waco was supposed to be a way for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms and the Clinton administration to prove the need for a ban on so-called assault weapons," he wrote at the time.
6. He really, really likes guns, and really, really hates abortion
Stockman also has a storied history when it comes to gun control and children. First, he introduced a bill to repeal federal laws that require "gun free zones" around schools. Then he pushed legislation that would defund schools that punished children for playing with imaginary guns, a trend that Stockman said is teaching kids to "be afraid of inanimate objects that are shaped like guns." And, most memorably, there was that time he tweeted: "If babies had guns, they wouldn't be aborted."
7. He doesn't get LGBT people
On the Violence Against Women Act reauthorization, Stockman mocked the legislation's additional protections for LGBT people: "This is a truly bad bill. This is helping the liberals, this is horrible. Unbelievable. What really bothers — it's called a women's act, but then they have men dressed up as women, they count that. Change-gender, or whatever. How is that — how is that a woman?"
8. He keeps Valium in his pants
And then there are his various legal and ethical problems. First, as the Houston Chronicle reported, Stockman has some financial disclosure issues. "Both as a candidate and as a congressman, Rep. Steve Stockman of Clear Lake has failed to make federally required disclosures about business affiliations that stretch from Texas to the British Virgin Islands, and has provided no details about the business he claims as his sole source of income," according to the Chronicle. Prior to that, years before he took office, Stockman "was charged with a felony after one such incident when authorities found Valium in his pants; he said a girlfriend put the pills there, and the charge was later reduced," as the Washington Post reported.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
'A speaker courageous enough to stand up to the extremists in his own party'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
How could the Supreme Court's Fischer v. US case impact the other Jan 6. trials including Trump's?
Today's Big Question A former Pennsylvania cop might hold the key to a major upheaval in how the courts treat the Capitol riot — and its alleged instigator
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Today's political cartoons - April 18, 2024
Cartoons Thursday's cartoons - impeachment Peanuts, record-breaking temperatures, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Arizona court reinstates 1864 abortion ban
Speed Read The law makes all abortions illegal in the state except to save the mother's life
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
Henry Kissinger dies aged 100: a complicated legacy?
Talking Point Top US diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner remembered as both foreign policy genius and war criminal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Last updated
-
Trump’s rhetoric: a shift to 'straight-up Nazi talk'
Why everyone's talking about Would-be president's sinister language is backed by an incendiary policy agenda, say commentators
By The Week UK Published
-
More covfefe: is the world ready for a second Donald Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question Republican's re-election would be a 'nightmare' scenario for Europe, Ukraine and the West
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published