Audio: Pride Fund to End Gun Violence Endorses Sen. Tim Kaine, Calls His GOP Opponents “extremely radical…anti-LGBTQ ideologues who are bought and paid for by the NRA”

A few minutes ago, the Pride Fund to End Gun Violence – “America’s only national LGBTQ political organization focused solely on gun violence prevention” – endorsed Sen. Tim Kaine for reelection.

As Jason Lindsay, Founder and Executive Director of the Pride Fund explained (see audio below), his group’s “very enthusiastic” endorsement of Sen. Kaine is “for [Kaine’s] longstanding commitment to fighting for not only LGBTQ equality, but also his backing of commonsense gun safety measures.” Lindsay further noted that Tim Kaine, having been governor of Virginia when the Virginia Tech shootings took place, “is uniquely familiar with the human cost of gun violence and…uniquely understanding of the need for commonsense gun reform.”

As for Tim Kaine’s Republican opponents, Pride Fund founder Jason Lindsay – who served in the Army for 14 years, including carrying an assault rifle “in the streets of Baghdad” – pointed out that they are “extremely radical…anti-LGBTQ ideologues who are bought and paid for by the NRA.” Lindsay said his group will be turning the strong campaign infrastructure his group built up in Virginia in 2017 towards reelecting Kaine in 2018.

In response, Sen. Kaine thanked the Pride Fund for its support, stating that “as a proud supporter of LGBT equality, as well as meaningful steps towards gun safety, I really appreciate your guys’ endorsement.” Kaine noted that he’s a “gun owner” and “Second Amendment supporter” who understands what the Second Amendment is – “but also what it isn’t.” Specifically, Kaine pointed out that the framers of the constitution fully intended there to be “rules so that such use or ownership [of firearms] could be well regulated, and that is a principle that has been consistently recognized by courts – and that’s all we’re asking for…reasonable regulations to promote gun safety.”

With that, here’s a recording of the Pride Fund’s endorsement and Sen. Kaine’s response. Go Kaine! 🙂

UPDATE: In an email, Pride Fund says it “will support Sen. Kaine’s re-election campaign in the following ways:

• Recruit volunteers to phone bank using our national list of over 100,000 supporters and activists

• Draw from Pride Fund’s volunteer base in Washington, DC, Virginia, and Maryland to knock doors in targeted areas of Virginia

• Promote Senator Kaine on Pride Fund’s social media platforms”