Reince Priebus, chairman of the
Republican National Committee (RNC), is resisting calls from
conservatives for the GOP to campaign on its opposition to marriage
equality.
A day after the Supreme Court punted on
the issue, effectively legalizing such unions in 11 states, Priebus
appeared on cable news network MSNBC's The Daily Rundown,
where he reiterated the party's opposition to marriage equality.
“We've
been pretty consistent and clear. We believe that marriage should be
between one man and one woman. I'm not running from that position.
That's our position on it and it's still the position today,”
Priebus said.
“So would you counsel Republican
candidates to run on this issue this fall? Why not make it a bigger
issue right now, if that's what you believe?” host Peter Alexander
asked.
“For the fall, I think this is about
the economy,” Priebus answered. “It's about Obamacare. It's
about what plans Republicans are going to put forward to get our
spending under control and do something in Washington and it's about
governor's races and about how to get state budgets under control and
get people back to work.”
“So, I don't think it's a top-tier
issue for the midterms,” he added.
Republican leaders have been slow to
respond to the dramatic changes on the issue, leaving social
conservatives fuming, including former Arkansas Governor Mike
Huckabee, who has threatened
to abandon the GOP over its weak response.
Meanwhile, three groups opposed to gay
rights are having little success calling on the GOP
to drop its support for three Republican candidates who have
endorsed marriage equality.
(Related: Ted
Cruz vows to introduce federal amendment banning gay marriage.)