Former Fox News Contributor Sandy Rios Claims Amtrak Engineer's Sexuality ''a Factor'' in Deadly Crash

"I do think it's an interesting part of the story and you can bet it would be edited out," she said of the engineer's sexual orientation

By Alyssa Toomey May 15, 2015 8:37 PMTags
Sandy RiosFOX News

Earlier this week, multiple media outlets began identifying Brandon Bostian as the engineer of the Amtrak train that crashed in Philadelphia on Tuesday night, killing at least 7 and injuring more than 60.

The 32-year-old engineer, who survived the crash, has since told ABC News, via his attorney, that he has "no explanation" for how the accident, which is currently under investigation, occurred. 

But on Thursday, Sandy Rios, a former Fox News Channel contributor and the governmental affairs director for American Family Association, a conservative organization which is said to promote "fundamentalist Christian values," offered up her own explanation during her radio show, saying that Bostian's sexual orientation was a "factor" in the crash because he is gay. 

Seriously, she actually said that.

WATCH: James Van Der Beek and Anna Camp take on Indiana's anti-gay law in Funny or Die video

Some outlets have referred to Bostian as a "gay activist" due to his opposition for California's Proposition 8 following his 2012 comments to The Midtown Gazette: "It's kind of insulting to have to beg people for my right to marry. I feel like we shouldn't even have to have this fight," Bostian, who previously resided in San Francisco, stated. 

While his sexuality has not be reported by multiple media outlets (presumably, due to the fact that it's completely irrelevant), Rios brought it up on her radio show, claiming the crash may have occurred because Bostian is homosexual. 

"Now I am not saying, I am not inferring to those of you that are gay rights activists and like to monitor this show, I'm not inferring that this accident happened because he was gay, but I do think it's an interesting part of the story and you can bet it would be edited out," Rios said, per Right Wing Watch.

READ: Is 19 Kids and Counting anti-gay?

She continued, suggesting that the engineer may have been "going through some confusion that has to do with the very core of who they are," before citing a story of an airline pilot who "put his entire plane at risk because he had an emotional, angry outburst to something that happened," which she claims was caused by the hormone therapy he was receiving (for the record, sexual orientation and gender identity are two very different things). 

Rios added: "I don't know, but I think it is something to be discussed and I think it's a factor and I doubt you will hear it anywhere else."

While Rios has yet to respond to the backlash, commenters are slamming the radio personality on her Facebook page. "The one thing I've learned from the Internet is that just when you think you've heard the dumbest thing, someone will prove you wrong," one user wrote while another quipped, "She probably isn't in her right mind because of hormones or something."

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