Republican presidential candidate Ted
Cruz last week claimed that Christian broadcasters opposed to
marriage equality risk losing their licenses.
Cruz made his comments in a speech to
the National Religious Broadcasters convention.
Referring to arguments made in last
year's Supreme Court case that struck down marriage bans nationwide,
Cruz alleged that “the answer from the Obama Justice Department in
the open court of the Supreme Court of the United States was yes,
that is a very real possibility that the IRS will come after you.
That if your hosts go on air and say, 'the Bible teaches that
marriage is not defined by man, it is defined by God as the union of
one man and one woman to mirror the relationship of Jesus Christ and
the church,' that your risk the federal government yanking your FCC
license.”
“That's the threat we're facing.
They're not hiding from this threat. They're saying in open court,
'We will use the power of government to go after and target those who
speak against us,'” Cruz added.
Writing at Right Wing Watch, Brian
Tashman notes that while Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli told
the court that he could not answer whether a religious school that
does not recognize the marriages of gay couples will lose its tax
exemption, he “never came close to claiming that the government
will go after religious broadcasters or people who speak out against
same-sex marriage. Cruz simply made it up.”