Donald Trump on Friday said that he
doesn't like recently approved laws in Russia that discriminate
against gays but remains opposed to marriage equality here in the
United States.
Over the summer, Russian President
Vladimir Putin signed laws which prohibit foreign gay couples from
adopting Russian-born children and the public promotion of gay rights
where minors might be present, effectively shutting down public
demonstrations of support. Russia's “gay propaganda” law has
provoked worldwide protests and calls for a boycott of the upcoming
Winter Olympics in Sochi.
Openly gay MSNBC anchor Thomas Roberts
will host the upcoming Miss Universe pageant to be held in Moscow.
In a recent op-ed, Roberts explained
that he wanted to go to Russia to let “people see I am no different
than anyone else.”
“All kids – Russian, American or
otherwise – need hope,” Roberts
wrote. “I am a happy, healthy, gainfully employed, educated
and married man. And yes, I am gay. These new Russian laws won't
stop Russians from being born LGBT and growing up to identify as
such. Russia's treatment of its LGBT citizens is unacceptable,
unrealistic and only promotes homophobia and intolerance for a
community that does and will continue to exist.”
Appearing on MSBNC, Trump, who acquired
the pageant in 1996, said that he doesn't like Russia's recent
anti-gay campaign.
“Well, I don't like it,” Trump told
Roberts. “I don't like what that is all about and, as you know,
and I think you probably feel very similar to me, we can go over
there and maybe make a difference.”
“You can avoid it, and that's one way
of handling it, or you can go over and perhaps make a difference,”
he added.
But when Roberts asked, “So does that
change any of your prior public stances on marriage equality here in
the US?” Trump answered, “No.”
“No, it doesn't change,” Trump
answered. “I just think it's – you are a wonderful guy. NBC
felt very strongly, they came to me and explained it to me, and I
agreed immediately, as you probably heard. It wasn't – you know, I
didn't put up a fight. In fact, I was very honored. I think you're
going to do fantastically, and I love the fact that you feel the same
about the whole situation as me.” (The video is embedded on this
page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)
Trump added that Putin had expressed
interest in attending the pageant.
(Related: George
Takei says Russia should be punished over anti-gay law, but opposes
boycott.)