Jeb Bush is borrowing from his big brother’s playbook again — this time on same sex marriage. In an interview with “The Brody File” this weekend, Jeb said he doesn’t believe in a constitutional right to marriage equality. He also doubled down on Indiana’s discriminatory RFRA laws, arguing that businesses should be able to decline serving gay weddings. At the same time, George W. was giving a speech on the same topic at Southern Methodist University’s graduation ceremony, sounding not so different from his little brother.
Jeb has already been under fire for his failure to distance himself from W. on the disastrous Iraq War. With the brothers’ parallel rhetoric on allowing for discrimination based on sexual orientation, we have to wonder — are George and Jeb just siblings, or are they twins?
Washington Post: Jeb Bush: No constitutional right to same-sex marriage
Former Florida governor Jeb Bush reiterated in a new interview that he doesn’t believe that same-sex marriage is a constitutional right.
“It’s at the core of the Catholic faith, and to imagine how we are going to succeed in our country unless we have committed family life, a committed child-centered family system, is hard to imagine,” he said. “So, irrespective of the Supreme Court ruling — because they are going to decide whatever they decide, I don’t know what they are going to do — we need to be stalwart supporters of traditional marriage.”
Huffington Post: Jeb Bush Says Christian Business Owners Can Refuse To Serve Gay Weddings
Likely Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush said that Christian business owners should not have to provide services for gay weddings if it goes against their religious beliefs.
“Yes, absolutely, if it’s based on a religious belief,” he said when asked by the Christian Broadcasting Network in an interview Saturday if businesses should be able to decline services to same-sex weddings.
The former Florida governor justified his position by claiming that not providing a service does not count as discrimination if business owners feel that it violates their religious rights.
The Hill: George W. Bush defends religious liberty
“It is essential to this nation’s future that we remember that the freedom to worship who we want, and how we want — or not to worship at all — is a core belief of our founding.”
His comments come amid a renewed national debate about so-called religious liberty laws that critics say will allow businesses to discriminate against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender customers.
Published: May 18, 2015