Former Speaker of the House Tom DeLay criticised Indiana Governor Mike Pence and Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchison for amending their respective states' religious freedom laws to prevent discrimination against the LGBT community.
On March 27, Gov. Pence signed into law Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). He was immediately met with backlash from LGBT rights organisations and business entities who claim that the RFRA's broad language could open the doors to discrimination against the LGBT community.
On April 2, Gov. Pence signed an amended RFRA that specifically prohibits discrimination by businesses on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
On April 1, Gov. Hutchison also announced that he would not be signing Arkansas' own RFRA, stating that the Act's provisions are not similar to what the federal law states.
"These two governors have shown great weakness," Mr DeLay said in an interview with Newsmax host Steve Malzberg.
"This is the result of the gay agenda," DeLay warned. "We're now seeing what the gay agenda is all about."
DeLay told Malzberg that religious freedom is the bedrock upon which the United States is founded, and he accused the LGBT community of attempting to undermine that liberty so that homosexuality becomes "an accepted sexual orientation."
The former House Speaker then said that the battle should be fought to the "bitter end," and added that the country is "finished" if people of faith allow the government to tell them what to believe and how to act.
He defended the RFRAs, stating that they are not "discrimination." DeLay told Malzberg that if he were a businessman and a gay person walked in without announcing his gender orientation, he would be obliged to render services to that person. However, if this person is openly gay and insists on being served, then DeLay would not serve this customer.
"(I)f he comes in and asks me to undermine my values ... then I have the right to stand up for what I believe in and not serve him," DeLay said.
"It's not discrimination," the former Speaker of the House stressed.
