On Meet the Press today, Vice President Joe Biden said he is “absolutely comfortable with the fact that men marrying men, women marrying women,” and added, “I think Will and Grace probably did more to educate the American public than almost anything anybody’s ever done so far.” But, the Vice President added, “The President sets the policy.â€
Immediately, the Obama campaign tried to walk-back the comments.
“Biden’s office tells me he was speaking for his own evolving on marriage not for the admin.,” MSNBC’s Chuck Todd reported via Twitter.
And David Axelrod, head of the Obama campaign, also via Twitter, said, “What VP said-that all married couples should have exactly the same legal rights-is precisely POTUS’s position.”
Igor Volsky at Think Progress was the first to report on the story:
GREGORY: Have your views evolved?
BIDEN: The good news is that as more and more Americans come to understand what this is all about is a simple proposition. Who do you love? Who do you love and will you be loyal to the person you love? And that’s what people are finding out what all marriages at their root are about. Whether they are marriages of lesbians or gay men or heterosexuals. […]
GREGORY: You’re comfortable with same-sex marriage now?
BIDEN: Look, I am Vice President of the United States of America. The president sets the policy. I am absolutely comfortable with the fact that men marrying men, women marrying women and heterosexual men marrying women are entitled to the same exact rights. All the civil rights, all the civil liberties. And quite frankly I don’t see much of a distinction beyond that. […] I think Will & Grace probably did more to educate the American public than almost anything anybody has done so far. People fear that is different and now they’re beginning to understand.