Mark Green, U.S. President Donald J. Trump's nominee for Army secretary has ruled himself out of contention for the position following increasing criticism of comments he made about Muslims and gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans.
In a statement on Friday, Mark Green, a republican senator from Tennessee said "false and misleading attacks" had pressured him to withdraw.
“Tragically, my life of public service and my Christian beliefs have been mischaracterized and attacked by a few on the other side of the aisle for political gain," he said.
"While these false attacks have no bearing on the needs of the Army or my qualifications to serve, I believe it is critical to give the President the ability to move forward with his vision to restore our military to its rightful place in the world", he continued.
Meanwhile, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer described Green’s decision to step aside as "good news for all Americans."
Schumer said in a statement, "Mark Green's decision to withdraw his name from consideration as Army secretary is good news for all Americans, especially those who were personally vilified by his disparaging comments directed toward the LGBTQ community, Muslim community, Latino community and more"
Mark Green is the third nominee by President Donald Trump for a service secretary position to withdraw. It would be recalled that Donald Trump’s first pick for army secretary Vincent Viola opted out in February for financial reasons. Vincent Viola is a millionaire businessman and sports team owner.
Three weeks later, Philip B. Bilden, the Navy secretary nominee, also denounced is interest for reasons similar to that of Vincent Viola.
Mark Green would have replaced Eric Fanning, who became the first openly gay person to serve as army secretary under the former American leadership headed by Barack Obama.
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