During the Republican presidential
debate on Wednesday, Jeb Bush, a former governor of Florida, said
that he agrees with Mike Huckabee on Kentucky clerk Kim Davis.
Huckabee, a former governor of
Arkansas, has strongly defended Davis, standing by her side the day
she emerged from serving a 5-day jail sentence for refusing to comply
with a federal judge's ruling order her to issue marriage licenses to
all qualified couples. Davis has said that issuing marriage licenses
to gay and lesbian couples would violate her conscience.
“I thought that everyone here passed
ninth-grade civics. The courts can't legislate. I thought we had
three branches of government,” Huckabee said, referring to the
Supreme Court's June ruling striking down gay marriage bans
nationwide that Davis is defying.
(Related: Mike
Huckabee: Gay marriage ruling “so illegal” because it left us “in
state of confusion.”)
Bush has previously said that another
employee in Davis' office should issue the marriage licenses, if
Davis is unable.
“I was opposed to the decision but we
just can't say, 'Well, gays can't get married now,'” Bush said.
“But this woman, there should be some accommodation for her
conscience. Just as there should be for people that are florists
that don't want to participate in weddings, or bakers. A great
country like us should find a way to have accommodations for people,
so that we can solve this problem in the right way.”
“So, we do agree, Mike,” he added.