OKLAHOMA CITY — Even if the Supreme Court rules that a constitutional right to gay marriage exists, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal told the Washington Examiner he would “absolutely” take executive action as president to defend traditional marriage.
When the Marriage and Conscience Act failed in the Republican-controlled Louisiana legislature earlier this week, Jindal unilaterally ensured the bill’s purpose did not vanish. He issued an executive order, which states the government “shall take no adverse action” against those who act upon their belief that marriage is between one man and one woman.
In other states, wedding vendors who have declined to serve same-sex marriage ceremonies have been penalized. The order would presumably protect such businesses in Louisiana.
Speaking in a dressing room after his speech at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference on Friday, Jindal told the Examiner he took action because Christians and other defenders of traditional marriage should not have to choose between following their conscience and operating a business.
“If I decide to run, if I’m elected president, both statutorily as well as in executive orders, I think it’s important that we stand up for our First Amendment rights,” Jindal said. “I would do everything I can to protect religious liberty.”
While he has been an outspoken critic of President Obama’s executive actions on immigration, Jindal said he does not oppose executive action as a rule. He said he believes his Marriage and Conscience Order affirms the religious liberty laws already on the books in his state, whereas Obama took executive action to circumvent the Constitution.
He said he thinks liberals have intentionally sought to portray his action as discriminatory and hope that the issue goes away, but he knows it will not.
“I think the Left has gotten to the point where they want to silence those that disagree with them and, in this case, make it even illegal for those who disagree with them to live their lives according to their faith,” he said. “I would hope that those on the Left that disagree with this understand that this diversity of belief and tolerance in America is what makes us strong.”
Jindal, a Roman Catholic son of Indian immigrants, focused much of his speech in Oklahoma on the “threat of radical Islam,” and the “all-out assault on religious liberty we see being waged across our entire country.”
“This is a fight that has come to the United States,” Jindal said during his speech. “We’ve got a president who goes to the National Prayer Breakfast and criticizes Christians because of the Crusades. I’ve got a deal for the president of the United States … why doesn’t he hunt down and kill those radical Islamic terrorists and, in exchange, I will volunteer to keep an eye out for those medieval Christians.”
Jindal went on to decry “state-sponsored discrimination against Christians,” before serving up his biggest applause line of the evening that brought the crowd to its feet.
“I will say this slowly and simply so even the liberals in Hollywood and Democratic Party and media can understand: The United States of America did not create religious liberty; religious liberty created the United States of America,” Jindal said.
The issue of religious liberty has already emerged as a dominant concern for GOP primary voters vetting the presidential contenders. Indiana Gov. Mike Pence’s handling of the vitriolic response to his state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act help knock him out of contention for a 2016 presidential bid. And recent polls suggest Pence may have difficulty even winning re-election.
Jindal, on the other hand, has leveraged his social conservatism to win the favor of evangelical Christian voters. Jindal is often mentioned as a favorite among social conservatives, but their support appears divided among many options including Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.
Huckabee chose not to attend the SRLC in Oklahoma City, and Cruz failed to appear because of Senate business in Washington, D.C. The conference concludes with the first major straw poll of the GOP presidential campaign, and time will tell if Jindal has indirectly gained from his competitors’ absences this weekend.
