Republican presidential candidate and Ohio Gov.John Kasich says that jailed Kentucky court clerk Kim Davis “should follow the law.”
Davis, a county clerk, was recently ordered to jail for refusing to give out marriage licenses to gay couples on religious grounds. Speaking on ABC’s “This Week,” Kasich said, “I respect the fact that this lady doesn’t agree, but she’s also a government employee.”
“She’s not running a church,” Kasich continued. “I wouldn’t force this on a church. But in terms of her responsibility, I think she has to comply. I don’t like the fact that she’s sitting in a jail; that’s just absurd as well. But I think she should follow the law.”
It’s an unusual position for Kasich, who often speaks about his Christian faith on the campaign trail and once used it as a justification for spending programs. “When you die and get to the meeting with St. Peter, he’s probably not going to ask you much about what you did about keeping government small,” Kasich told reporters in 2013.
It also puts him in the company of fellow presidential contenders former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Donald Trump, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Carly Fiorina, and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, who have all come out against Davis’ actions. On the other side of the issue are Republican candidates Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, R-La., who have all said that Davis should not have been jailed. Ben Carson has not commented, and Wisconsin Gov.Scott Walker’s position is not clear.
Speaking on the matter this week, Walker said, “In the end, this is the balance that you gotta have to have in America, between the laws that are out there, but ultimately ensuring that the Constitution is upheld. … I read that the Constitution is very clear that people have freedom of religion — you have the freedom to practice religious beliefs out there; it’s a fundamental right.”
In addition to commenting on Davis, Kasich — who was first elected to the U.S. House in 1994 — spoke about his campaign, and predicted that voters would eventually abandon outsider candidates in favor of someone with experience.
“You’ve known me a long time, and you’ve known that for most of my career I have been a change agent,” said Kasich. “And I think people want a change agent, but I think they also want to make sure that whoever they select is somebody who can move the country in the right direction.”
“So acknowledge what it is that they’re concerned about, appreciate the fact that … we live in America. … And then we can tackle these things,” said Kasich. “At the end of the day, I think this all settles down.”
The RealClearPolitics polling average currently has Kasich at 8th place in the Republican primary field, with 4.5 percent of Republican voters expressing their support.
