Antigay N.C. Pol: Lincoln Was "Tyrant" Like Hitler

A North Carolina Republican lawmaker who is a lead sponsor of a bill to nullify marriage equality in the state says President Abraham Lincoln was "the same sort [of] tyrant" as Adolf Hitler, reports The Charlotte Observer.

Rep. Larry Pitmann was responding to criticism about the bill on his Facebook page, where he wrote that North Carolina should limit marriage to opposite-sex couples "in spite of the opinion of the federal court."

Pitmann continued on Facebook:

"And if Hitler had won, should the world just get over it? Lincoln was the same sort if [sic] tyrant, and personally responsible for the deaths of over 800,000 Americans in a war that was unnecessary and unconstitutional."'

North Carolina Democrats condemned his comments. "Rep. Pittman and his ultra-conservative allies in the General Assembly have no sense of decency, no sense of shame and no sense of historical fact," said state Democratic Party chairman Wayne Goodwin in a statement. "I call on North Carolina's Republican leaders to immediately condemn these outrageous and offensive statements."

North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore said the bill against same-sex marriage will not move forward. "There are strong constitutional concerns with this legislation given that the U.S. Supreme Court has firmly ruled on the issue, therefore House Bill 780 will be referred to the House Rules Committee and will not be heard," said Moore said in a statement.