Hill is now locked in a battle royal for the title of "most brain-damaged right-winger in the Florida Legislature" with a few other contenders — notably state Sen. Dennis Baxley, a fellow fan of the Confederate States of America. But because Hill's gigantic mouth burped out some more bigoted stuff recently, we figured it was worth the time to run back through his long, upsetting history of offensive statements.
1. The numerous times he's called Islam a cult that worships a demon god:
.@ByYourLogic remember when you made fun of GOP islamophobia against @IlhanMN on chapo by creating a character who thought Muslims worshiped a demon god of the moon? That Republican exists and its @mikehillfl. He also wants to ban abortion & thinks gay people should be executed. pic.twitter.com/pk6vybrTDE
— Thomas Kennedy (@tomaskenn) June 2, 2019
2. The time he proposed moving Donald Trump's Walk of Fame star to Pensacola. From the Pensacola News Journal:The sooner you expel the demonic Muslim horde, the better. https://t.co/29Bjq0qEmT
— Mike Hill (@MikeHillfl) August 2, 2018
A former state representative and current candidate for Florida House District 1 wants to bring President Donald Trump's Hollywood Walk of Fame star to Pensacola.
Mike Hill announced via a Facebook Live video Wednesday that he wanted to put the Trump Hollywood star in Pensacola.
"Pensacola, the first settlement in America, is also going to be the city that is going to bring the Trump Hollywood star here to Pensacola," Hill said in the video. "I want you to join me, Pensacola."
Hill made the announcement while holding a life-size photo of the Trump star in front of the Confederate monument in Lee Square in downtown Pensacola with a campaign sign for his state House run placed next to him.
3. The time he tried to ban the state from removing Confederate monuments:
In public spaces across Florida, at least 30 monuments honor Confederate soldiers. Many of the tributes glorify members of the renegade army that declared war on the United States as "uncrowned heroes" or "a noble band" and celebrate their "dauntless valor."
It would become illegal to remove any of those memorials — plus the Confederate flag and other symbols, as well as street and school names honoring Confederate soldiers — under a bill proposed by a Republican state lawmaker from Pensacola. Mike Hill, the first black state representative elected from the Panhandle since the Civil War, argues the memorials should be preserved because of their educational value.
"It will not change any person's life today by tearing down a Confederate monument or tearing down a statue or tearing down a cross," Hill tells New Times. "It will not change any person's life by doing that. What it will do is prevent someone from learning the history of why it was there in the first place."
4. The time "God" told him to ban all abortions in Florida. From the News Journal once again:
Speaking at a meeting of Women for Responsible Legislation at Pensacola City Hall, Hill said the fetal heartbeat bill was modeled on other states that had passed similar bills and included exceptions for rape, incest, domestic violence, human trafficking, or if the woman's life is in danger.
The Republican lawmaker said he wasn't happy with the exceptions in the bill but thought it would make it more palatable and give it a better chance of passing.
"I'm going to say this, even though I know the press is here," said Hill, the representative for District 1, who includes the northern two-thirds of Escambia County.
Hill said that he was at an anti-abortion rally a few weeks ago in Pensacola, and while the keynote speaker was delivering a speech, God spoke to him.
"As plain as day, God spoke to me," Hill said. "He said that wasn't my bill, talking about the heartbeat detection bill that I filed. He said that wasn't my bill. I knew immediately what he was talking about. He said, you remove those exceptions and you file it again. And I said, yes, Lord, I will. It's coming back. It's coming back. We are going to file that bill without any exceptions just like what we saw passed in Alabama."
5. And now, the time he casually joked about murdering gay people:
State Rep. Mike Hill, a lawmaker whose bills are so absurdly stupid they can't even pass in Florida, spent the weekend in the fetal position dodging the consequences of his own bigotry. Friday, the Pensacola News Journal released audio of Hill laughing in response to a constituent's suggestion that he pass a law sentencing gay people to death. Almost immediately, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle called for an apology.
But instead of simply admitting he'd callously made light of anti-gay violence, Hill dug his heels in and repeatedly refused to say he was sorry.
"Absurd to ask me to apologize for a statement that I did not make and that no one took seriously. This is a social media lynching!" he tweeted Saturday.
The calls for his resignation clearly haunted Hill all weekend. First, he denied the encounter: Friday, he told Miami Herald reporter Samantha Gross he didn't remember laughing and could barely recall what the constituent said about executing gays. Once the audio recording surfaced, however, his memory returned.
