White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany refused to discuss her opposition to same-sex marriage in law school when a reporter asked her about it Friday.
Washington Blade reporter Chris Johnson referenced a 2015 article published by the Political Prospect, in which McEnany argued that same-sex marriage bans should be decided on a state-to-state basis.
“In a previous life, as a Harvard law student in 2015, you were vocally against the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in favor of same-sex marriage, calling arguments for it ‘farcical blabber,'” said Johnson. “Do you think that’s consistent with the president’s views?”
McEnany noted the distinction between her personal views and that of President Trump, whose administration, she said, has been “fair and equitable and just to all Americans.” Johnson continued his line of questioning, referencing Trump’s opinion on the Obergefell v. Hodges ruling.
“The president said he’s fine with the decision,” Johnson responded.
“I stand behind the president,” said McEnany. “I stand behind his views. I’m here to represent the president and not to pontificate about Supreme Court cases from long ago.”
Johnson noted that “any day now,” the Supreme Court will be hearing the case of Aimee Stephens, who was fired from her place of work shortly after informing her boss that she was transitioning from male to female.
In McEnany’s article in the Political Prospect, the White House press secretary argued that states should have the final say over whether same-sex couples could get married or not.
“If you tune into the mainstream media, you will hear a lot of farcical blabber about state-sanctioned discrimination, but that is not what this case is about,” she wrote. “The case before the Supreme Court tomorrow is about something entirely different: the right of the state to define marriage, a right that has been in its constitutional domain since the inception of this republic.”
On May 31, 2019, presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway touted Trump’s record on same-sex marriage, saying he was the first president to ever take office “approving of gay marriage.”
