Conservative celebrity and potential
presidential candidate Ben Carson warned gay couples against pushing
baker opposed to gay marriage, saying it isn't “smart.”
According to The
Hill, Carson received a standing ovation after delivering his
remarks at the Iowa Freedom Summit organized by Iowa Rep. Steve King.
But the former Johns Hopkins University
pediatric neurosurgeon and Fox News commentator “struggled at times
through a post-speech press availability, offering vague answers on a
number of topics and refusing to answer how he thinks abortion should
be criminalized,” the outlet reported.
Referring to recent headlines about
bakers getting sued for refusing to serve gay couples, Carson said:
“What I have a problem with is when people try to force people to
act against their beliefs because they say 'they're discriminating
against me.' So they can go right down the street and buy a cake,
but no, let's bring a suit against this person because I want them to
make my cake even though they don't believe in it. Which is really
not all that smart because they might put poison in that cake.”
(Related: Baker
sued for refusing to make anti-gay cake raises cash for legal
expenses.)
In 2013, Carson stepped down as
commencement speaker at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine for
linking marriage equality to bestiality and pedophilia, which drew a
loud outcry from students and faculty. In apologizing, Carson said
people had “taken the wrong meaning out of what I was saying.”