During Thursday's broadcast of the "Rick & Bubba Show," hosts Bill "Bubba" Bussey and Rick Burgess reacted to 1819 News' reporting of Smiths Station Mayor F.L. "Bubba" Copeland, also a Baptist pastor, who has been posing as a "transgender curvy girl" on social media.
Copeland, who also operates as Brittini Summerlin online, emphatically declared while addressing the congregation at First Baptist Church of Phenix City on Wednesday night that he had "nothing to be ashamed of," despite some of the photos he shared being explicit and encouraging people to transition.
According to the mayor, the plethora of photos in his wife's clothing was an "attempt of humor" and how he dealt with "stress."
The two hosts questioned Copeland's capacity to serve as a pastor and suggested he was a "false teacher."
[Relevant portion beginning around the 2:12:56 mark and again at the 2:27:26 mark]
Bussey said he saw the report and couldn't believe it to be true.
"I saw that yesterday, and I was like ... I just had to put it in the category of that just can't be true and move on because I didn't want to deal with it," he lamented.
Burgess described Copeland's alter ego as an "abomination," per the same scripture the pastor preaches from.
"This is not behavior that we would find suitable for our pastor or our mayor," Burgess emphasized. "Mayor, maybe. Definitely not pastor ... because it violates the very thing you're supposed to be teaching. And it's not a stumble. You didn't have a rough day. You've been living this since 2014."
"Scripture would call you a false teacher because of that," he added.
As the show cut to commercial, Copeland's remarks that he had "nothing to be ashamed of" were brought back up.
Burgess replied, "[Y]ou do have something to be ashamed of."
He added Copeland should step down as pastor of his church and then get his relationship with Christ back in order instead of downplaying his transgressions.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email trent.baker@1819news.com.
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