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Mike Huckabee Says Obama May Be Lying About His Support For Gay Marriage

Mike Huckabee speaking at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition. CREDIT: CNN/SCREENSHOT.
Mike Huckabee speaking at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition. CREDIT: CNN/SCREENSHOT.

Mike Huckabee questioned President Obama’s support for marriage equality during an appearance on Fox News on Friday, suggesting that Obama was not genuine in his belief that gay and lesbian couples should be allowed to marry.

Describing his own opposition to equal marriage rights, Huckabee explained, “The position that I hold is the position that Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden held in 2008. Barack Obama held it until 2012.” “And my question that I would love to pose to the president is this: Mr. President, please explain that when you said in 2008 at the Saddleback Church forum that you stood for traditional marriage and you did so because you were a Christian and because it’s what the Bible taught, please answer: Were you lying then, are you lying now, or did the Bible get rewritten?”

Obama actually cited his Christian faith upon announcing his support for marriage equality in 2012, and said that while everyone’s religious convictions should be respected, gay and lesbian Americans deserve equal rights and responsibilities under the country’s civil laws.

“[W]hen we think about our faith, the thing at root that we think about is, not only Christ sacrificing himself on our behalf, but it’s also the Golden Rule, you know, treat others the way you would want to be treated,” Obama told ABC News’ Robin Roberts. “And I think that’s what we try to impart to our kids and that’s what motivates me as president and I figure the most consistent I can be in being true to those precepts, the better I’ll be as a as a dad and a husband and hopefully the better I’ll be as president.”

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Obama went on to point out that when New York legalized same-sex marriage, proponents “did a good job in engaging the religious community. Making it absolutely clear that what we’re talking about are civil marriages and civil laws.” “That they’re respectful of religious liberty, that — you know, churches and other faith institutions — are still gonna be able to make determinations about what they’re sacraments are — what they recognize,” he said. “But from the perspective of — of the law and perspective of the state — I think it’s important — to say that in this country we’ve always been about — fairness. And — and treating everybody — as equals.”

Since Obama’s endorsement, support for marriage equality has only continued to grow among religious Americans. A recent poll found that 60 percent of Catholics and 45 percent of evangelicals who are between the ages of 18 and 29 agree with the president on the issue.