A prominent political reporter has
criticized Florida Governor Rick Scott over his claim that he's not
involved in the state's decision to defend its gay marriage ban in
court.
WPLG-TV's Michael Putney criticized the
Republican governor's stance on Sunday's This Week in South
Florida.
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi is
defending the ban in at least five state and federal cases which have
declared it unconstitutional.
Scott has maintained that he's opposed
to discrimination but supports the ban.
“Now what's important to me is that
we don't discriminate against anybody, but I'd be surprised if a
court is going to overturn the people,” he said in June.
Scott has also sidestepped questions
about whether the state should continue defending the ban in court.
“This is a constitutional matter and
it is the responsibility of the attorney general to handle cases
involving Florida's Constitution,” Scott spokesman John Tupps told
the AP in September. Scott has made similar statements to the media.
Putney accused Scott of refusing to
“take responsibility.”
“The governor says Attorney General
Pam Bondi's fruitless and costly appeals of numerous court rulings
against the state's gay marriage ban, Scott says, that is entirely
her business, he doesn't have a thing to do with it,” Putney
told viewers.
“That is just nonsense. Governor
Scott is the top elected official in the state. If he didn't want
Attorney General Bondi to file those appeals, he can simply call her
up and say, 'Hey, stop it.' Or he could order a stop.”
“The fact that Governor Scott refuses
to take responsibility for preventing [gay couples from marrying and
receiving benefits] is appalling. But it's not the first time,” he
added. (The video is embedded on this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)