Controversial Actions and Statements:
R. Lee Ermey
R. Lee Ermey (Board Member)
Actor
R. Lee Ermey parlayed a career as a drill instructor in the United States Marine Corps into a number of acting roles. He often plays authority figures and is most famous for his portrayal of Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in Stanley Kubrick’s “Full Metal Jacket.” Ermey currently hosts the weaponry and military history show “Mail Call” and appears in television commercials. He is a paid spokesperson for a number of products, including Glock firearms.
R. Lee Ermey (Board Member)
On August 26, 2012, Ermey told TMZ that Geico fired him as a spokesperson because of comments Ermey had made about President Barack Obama at a “Toys for Tots” rally in 2010. At that rally, Ermey stated, “We’re having a big problem this year. The economy really sucks. Now I hate to point fingers at anybody, but the present administration probably has a lot to do with that. And the way I see it they’re not going to quit doing it until they bring this country to its knees. So I think we should rise all rise up and we should stop his administration from what they are doing because they are destroying this country. They’re driving us into bankruptcy so they can impose Socialism on us.” In the TMZ interview, Ermey said, “Yeah, I got fired. Geico fired me because I had uh, I wasn’t too kind ... about the administration … If you’re a conservative in this town, you’d better watch out.” Geico told Fox News that Ermey had not been fired, the company had simply moved on.
R. Lee Ermey (Board Member)
In the March 2012 issue of America’s 1st Freedom, Ermey was interviewed by NRA-ILA Executive Director Chris Cox. Ermey told him, “Some things I’ve said have ended up on Keith Olbermann’s show and I consider that a badge of honor. When he gets upset about something, it makes me happy. When it comes to politics and religion, you can’t please everyone. The people on the wrong side of the fence need to do a little more research.” When asked about his role in the NRA’s “Trigger the Vote” campaign, Ermey stated, “We need to take this country back and do it right now. I fought for this country, and now I’m watching these protesters and politicians destroy this country, so I have to consider them my enemies–just politically of course.”
R. Lee Ermey (Board Member)
In December 2010, while appearing at a “Toys for Tots” rally, Ermey said, “We’re having a big problem this year. The economy really sucks. Now I hate to point fingers at anybody, but the present administration probably has a lot to do with that. And the way I see it they’re not going to quit doing it until they bring this country to its knees. So I think we should rise all rise up and we should stop his administration from what they are doing because they are destroying this country. They’re driving us into bankruptcy so they can impose Socialism on us.”
R. Lee Ermey (Board Member)
Ermey discussed plans to repeal the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in a March 2010 interview with Marine Corps Times, saying, “Now all of a sudden, this illustrious leader of America decided he wants to put openly gay people in the military. But where are they going to live and take showers, and which bathrooms are they going to use? I liken it to putting me in the woman Marine barracks. I would have a great time, but I don’t think they would like it very much. If I’m taking a shower in an open shower bay, the last thing I want is some guy looking at me having sexual fantasies.” Asked in the same interview if he would ever run for elected office, he responded, “No. This old man has too many skeletons in the closet. I frequented a few too many whorehouses, tattoo parlors and places of ill repute in my time. Boy, could they have a ball with me, digging up bones.”
R. Lee Ermey (Board Member)
During a February 2012 appearance on the FOX News show “Hannity,” Ermey claimed, “[The] Second Amendment is the most important amendment in the Constitution. C’mon, I went down to New Orleans after the hurricane a couple of years ago after Katrina. People had food when they left their houses but they didn’t have the a means with which to protect that food and as soon as they got down to the football arena, that stadium down there, the bullies and the gangs took their doggone food and water away from them, and in some cases molested their children. You know every night when I go to bed I go to the safe, I take a 357 magnum out of my safe and put it on my night stand … We must protect our Second Amendment rights. I see it being nibbled away all the time, and one morning were going to wake up and were not gonna have Second Amendment rights. It’s gonna be gone, and it will be too late then.” Ermey’s claims echo a conspiracy theory promoted by the National Rifle Association arguing that there was widespread gun confiscation in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The NRA hired private investigators to search for individuals who had a gun confiscated in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, but only found 75 people (of New Orleans’ pre-storm population of 450,000) willing to make that claim.
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