Former Ron Paul Staffer Says GOP Presidential Candidate “Personally Uncomfortable With Gays”

A former Ron Paul staffer says the Republican presidential candidate is “unsettled by being around gays personally” and is “out of touch” with black and Hispanic voters. In a lengthy op-ed on RightWingNews.com, Eric Dondero defended the Texas congressman against charges of racism related to newsletters released in Paul’s name during the 1980s and ‘90s. "I worked with the man for 12 years, pretty consistently. I never heard a racist word expressed towards Blacks or Jews come out of his mouth. Not once," Dondero wrote. But Dondero goes on to take several digs at his former boss, saying Paul is “out of touch with both Hispanic and Black culture” and “intolerant" of people who primarily speak Spanish. Dondero went on to say that while Paul supports gay people's rights to do “whatever they please in their private lives," he's "personally uncomfortable around homosexuals, no different from a lot of older folks of his era," reports The New York Daily News. According to Dondero, Paul once took pains to avoid using the bathroom at a gay supporter's house. He also recounts an incident relayed to him by another senior staffer in which Paul refused to shake a gay supporter's hand. The Paul camp dismissed Dondero's claims, calling him “a disgruntled former staffer who was fired for performance issues," CBS News reported. Dondero fiercely denied that he was fired, telling CBS that he resigned in 2003 in protest over Paul's views against the Iraq war. In his op-ed, Dondero also ripped the candidate’s views on Israel. “He wishes the Israeli state did not exist at all," Dondero wrote. "He expressed this to me numerous times in our private conversations." The former staffer also said Paul believed the U.S. should never have gotten involved in World War II. "He expressed to me countless times, that 'saving the Jews' was absolutely none of our business," Dondero wrote. Dondero and the Ron Paul campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment.