Sam Brownback Nominated As Ambassador-At-Large For Religious Freedom, Twitter reacts
President Donald Trump has nominated Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback to the office of Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom. Brownback is expected to take the post after stepping down as governor. The second-least popular governor in the country according to a recent survey drew quite a happy reaction on Twitter.
The Office of International Religious Freedom comes under the State Department and Brownback will head it. Its mission is to promote religious freedom as a core U.S. foreign policy value. It monitors religious persecution and discrimination worldwide, recommending and implementing policies in regions and countries.
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The White House said that Brownback is a former U.S. senator and representative, and has worked on issues related to religious freedom, according to reports. After the news broke, Brownback wrote that he felt honored to be chosen for the post in a tweet.
While some of his followers on the social media website congratulated him for his new role, many took to Twitter to criticize him for his performance as governor and seemed happy about him leaving the post.
“Please leave Kansas and never return. It will take years to undo the damage that you did to our state,” a Twitter user named DJ1028 wrote.
“It’s bad enough you ruined Kansas, now you are going after heaven,” another Twitter user gwheezie wrote.
Several similar tweets followed.
Some Twitter users questioned the working of the office and asked if people of all religions would be free under Brownback's tenure.
The 60-year-old was elected as the governor of Kansas in 2011. He had earlier represented the state in Congress in 1995 and 1996. He went on to serve as senator from 1996 to 2011.
Brownback has been an advocate for religious freedom and helped in shaping the International Religious Freedom Act passed in 1998, reports said.
Brownback’s popularity in recent years had taken a hit as the state of Kansas failed to meet its revenue projections and cut down on services. It is believed that the problem occurred due to Brownback’s tax cutting doctrine.
In lowering the tax burden, Brownback sought to attract employers to the state and make the economy grow. However, this never happened and the state suffered, New York Times reported.
Last year his party suffered losses in the legislative elections in Kansas, which has been a Republican stronghold. Democrats and moderate Republicans united to override the governor's veto and raise taxes last year.
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Brownback’s image within his party also suffered as he clashed with party members on Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion, which he vetoed. He rejected the idea of accepting federal money under the Affordable Care Act, reports said.
As Brownback is set to step down from the office of Governor, uncertainty prevails over Kansas with regards to funding of public education. The Kansas Supreme Court is expected to come up with a judgment on the constitutionality of the new school funding mechanism in the state.
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