The 2019 Emmy nominations were announced today, but a Republican contender for Senate — who currently serves as Alabama's secretary of state — is unhappy with TV's current state of affairs.

John Merrill, who's running for the Republican nomination to challenge incumbent Democratic Doug Jones, said that America is losing its moral core due to its preoccupation with "homosexual activities" and TV shows that focus on "how people are trying to date on TV."

“There are no more good TV shows on like ‘Gunsmoke,’ ‘Bonanza,’ ‘The Virginian,’ ‘Andy Griffith,’ ‘I Love Lucy,’" Merrill said at the event. "We don’t have those shows anymore. We’re too interested in homosexual activities."

He said that America is obsessed with TV shows that lack biblical foundations and fail to promote a nuclear family of a father, mother and children.

"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," Merrill added. "That’s what we watch."

Merrill first made the comments at a town hall in Fort Payne, Alabama, over the weekend, AL.com reported. He doubled-down on these statements with USA TODAY.

"There are too many TV shows preoccupied with people's sexual orientation instead of messages that edify our basic moral foundation," he told USA TODAY. "That's the problem."

He cited the focus by "national media" on the U.S. National Women's Soccer Team and their "sexual orientations" as opposed to the "great accomplishment on their play."

"We need to be trying to build our country up, not to introduce things that separate us," he told USA TODAY, adding that these TV shows do indeed lead to "the basic breakdown of the moral fiber of our nation."

Contributing: Associated Press

Follow Joshua Bote on Twitter at @joshua_bote.