John Merrill, Secretary of State of Alabama (Joe Raedle/Getty)

Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill has claimed that “homosexual activities” are to blame for the destruction of American values.

Merrill, who is making a bid for the US Senate in 2020, made the claim at a campaign event in Fort Payne, Alabama, according to Yellowhammer News.

Alabama official hits out at ‘homosexual activities’

The Republican official said: “We have to push back against what [Democrats] are doing because they will continue to tear down the basic foundational principles of our country and what has made our country great today.

“There are no more good TV shows on like Gunsmoke, Bonanza, The Virginian, Andy Griffith, I Love Lucy.

“We don’t have those shows anymore. We’re too interested in homosexual activities. We’re too interested in seeing how this family’s finding a way to mess on this family or to see how people are trying to date on TV, or having wife-swapping on TV. That’s what we watch.

“When we push back against that, and we quit allowing it to be in our homes – that’s how those changes have occurred because we’ve allowed them to slowly but surely come into our lives.”

Speaking to AL.com, Merrill stood by his comments.

He told the outlet: “I meant what I said. People are too interested in anything that is not uplifting, edifying. They’re too busy being preoccupied with homosexual activities and the wife swap shows.”

The candidate called for more “shows that promote family and culture with a father, a mother and children based on biblical teachings and biblical principles on which our nation was founded.”

Alabama has seen a flood of unchecked homophobia

His anti-LGBT comments are far from rare in Alabama, where in the past few months a mayor called for gay people to be put to death and a police officer mocked the suicide of a gay teenager.

In June, another Alabama Republican official hit out at “freaking queers” in a Facebook post.

Phil Benson, who is the elected treasurer of Mobile County, Alabama, claimed: “Freaking queers have gotten too much sympathy. A real abomination.”

Benson refused to apologise for the jibe in an interview with local media, in which he insisted on reading a Bible verse about why it’s bad to rape houseguests.