Republican presidential candidate Mike
Huckabee said Wednesday that he had called Kim Davis to offer his
“prayers and support” to the defiant clerk.
Davis, the elected county clerk of
Rowan County, Kentucky is defying a court order to issue marriage
licenses to gay and lesbian couples. On Tuesday, she turned away at
least four gay couples despite having exhausted all possible legal
options.
(Related: KY
clerk faces contempt hearing for refusing to issue marriage licenses
to gay couples.)
“I spoke with Kim Davis this morning
to offer my prayers and support,” Huckabee, an ordained Southern
Baptist minister and ardent opponent of LGBT rights, said in a
written statement. “I let her know how proud I am of her for not
abandoning her religious convictions and standing strong for
religious liberty. She is showing more courage and humility than
just about any federal office holder in Washington.”
Other candidates for the GOP
presidential nomination, including former HP CEO Carly Fiorina, Ohio
Governor John Kasich and South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, said
that while they oppose marriage equality, Davis must perform her job.
“I support traditional marriage, but
she's accepted a job where she has to apply the law to everyone. And
that's her choice,” Graham said during an appearance on the Hugh
Hewitt Show.
Catherine Frazier, a spokeswoman for
Texas Senator Ted Cruz, appeared to back Davis, saying that the court
“has no business to compel people of faith to violate their
religious beliefs.”