New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg
believes Vice President Joe Biden pushed President Barack Obama on
gay marriage.
During a May appearance on NBC's Meet
the Press, Biden told host David Gregory that he is “absolutely
comfortable with the fact that men marrying men, women marrying
women.” He then added, “The president sets the policy.”
Within days, Obama moved from
supporting civil unions for gay couples to full marriage, making him
the first sitting president in history to do so.
While the White House has denied it,
many have questioned the timing of the president's announcement.
In an interview with The
New York Times, Bloomberg said he was not seeing “as much
action as I would like” from the president on social issues.
The mayor was asked how he could make
such a criticism given the president's support on the marriage issue.
“Let's get serious here: it was Joe
Biden that forced that issue. Some people say he just goes off; I
would say he's a principled guy,” Bloomberg answered.
(Related: Michael
Bloomberg gives $250,000 to uphold gay marriage in Maryland.)