Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee told conservatives that the US Supreme Court tried to “unwrite the laws of nature and the laws of nature’s God” when it legalized same-sex marriage.
The former Arkansas governor on Saturday urged people to flout the ruling, as former US president Abraham Lincoln did after the court’s 1857 decision that barred citizenship for black people.
Huckabee added that US President Barack Obama opposed same-sex marriage until 2012.
“He was either lying in 2008, or he’s lying now, or God has rewritten the Bible and only Barack Obama has gotten the new edition,” Huckabee said at the Western Conservative Summit.
Several Republican presidential hopefuls attended the gathering, which followed a week in which the court also upheld Obama’s healthcare law.
The would-be contenders offered few suggestions on what to do about the marriage ruling, highlighting the party’s challenges on social issues.
Republican hopeful Carly Fiorina said she supports civil unions.
Opponents of the ruling should focus on religious freedom in public accommodations, such as cases of bakers facing penalties for refusing to serve gay couples, she added.
Former Texas governor Rick Perry derided the ruling, but did not suggest a next step.
“These decisions need to be made in the states,” Perry said, adding that his states’ rights plank extends even to Colorado legalizing recreational marijuana in defiance of US federal drug law.
“I defend the right of Colorado to be wrong on that issue,” Perry said.
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, who has called for a constitutional amendment to undo the marriage ruling, did not mention the ruling in his remarks late on Saturday. “The sole role of the judiciary ... is to uphold the Constitution of the United States and those laws duly enacted. No more, no less,” Walker said to applause.
On Friday, former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum said the marriage ruling was “based on a lie” that opponents of same-sex marriage are motivated by discrimination.
“We have a Supreme Court that says the only reason that you could possibly oppose changing marriage laws in America is because you hate people who want to marry people of the same sex. That is not true,” Santorum said.
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