Republican presidential candidate Mike
Huckabee on Friday promised that if elected president he would ignore
the Supreme Court's June ruling striking down gay marriage bans in
all 50 states.
Huckabee made his comments during the
National Religious Liberties Conference in Iowa.
“Here's what the president should do,
and if I were president this is what I would do,” Huckabee
said. “On the same-sex marriage decision, I would simply say,
'It is not law.' It is not law because the people's elected
representatives have not made it law and there is nothing in the
constitution that gives the Supreme Court power to make a law. They
are the Supreme Court, they are not the supreme branch or the supreme
being.”
“And so, when people say, 'What can
we do? Let's introduce a constitutional amendment, let's propose a –
.' No. Let's just exhibit and exercise the power that is already
within the constitutional authority and structure and the president
simply say, 'Thank you for your opinion, but we shall ignore it,
because there's nothing in the constitution that affirms that and we
are not going to impose upon all 50 states something that the federal
government has no control over, which is the definition of
marriage,'” he added.
Also appearing at the conference were
Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, who are
also running for the White House as Republicans. Jindal told the
crowd that “no earthly court can change the definition of
marriage.”
The three candidates have been
criticized for appearing at the conference, which was organized by
right-wing pastor Kevin Swanson, a vocal opponent of LGBT rights who
blamed homosexuality for Hurricane
Sandy and Colorado
floods.