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Marco Rubio: ‘I’ve Never Supported A Federal Constitutional Amendment On Marriage.’ Really?

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Marco Rubio today claims he has never supported a federal amendment to the constitution on marriage. Is that true?

In a quick interview with MSNBC this morning, Marco Rubio said he believes the states should have the right to define marriage as they choose. The GOP presidential candidate, who does not support marriage equality and initially stumbled by saying “sex” instead of “marriage” when talking about same-sex couples, also offered up an interesting statement. “I’ve never supported a federal constitutional amendment on marriage.”

Really? If that’s true, the record says otherwise. And if that’s true, did he try to correct the record?

There’s a line, of course, between being so anti-gay that enshrining bigotry into our founding documents seems like a good idea, and being anti-gay but conceding the issue to the states – not that marriage should be left to the states.

While the Florida freshman Senator may or may not have ever “supported a federal constitutional amendment on marriage,” the record certainly appears to show he did.

A 2010 Voters Guide published by the Christian Coalition, a far right religious organization, puts Rubio’s position on the issue of a “Federal Marriage Amendment to prevent same sex marriage” as “Supports.” An asterisk is next to his position, which the Christian Coalition states designates:

“When possible, positions of candidates on issues were verified or determined using voting records and/or public statements.”

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On the other side of the political spectrum, in an undated article that was published at least by October 3, 2010, the People For The American Way write:

“Rubio is opposed to repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell – which puts him at odds with three quarters of the American people. He opposes the freedom to marry for gay couples and supports a federal constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in any state.”

LOOK: Marco Rubio’s Top 10 Anti-Gay Statements

In August of 2010, before Rubio was elected to the U.S. Senate, CNN interviewed his challenger, Charlie Christ. Here’s how reporter Ed Henry began a question on same-sex marriage:

“Another big issue, same-sex marriage. Many conservatives like Marco Rubio support a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage…”

One year earlier, in 2009, Rubio told Slate’s Christopher Beam that he wasn’t talking about same-sex marriage because no one else was, but offered up this “position,” if you will, on a federal marriage amendment that would ban same-sex couples from marrying: “I have mixed feelings about that.”

By 2013 Senator Rubio may have take the position that marriage should be left to the states, but he did not have that belief solidified when he was running for the U.S. Senate three years earlier.

And if he never supported a federal amendment to the U.S. Constitution defining marriage, it would appear he also never tried to correct the record – or disabuse those who thought he did – of that perception, which worked to his advantage.

Senator Rubio’s campaign was contacted for comment on this article but did not immediately respond.

UPDATE – 5:50 PM EDT:
In an article published after this one, MSNBC’s Benjy Sarlin adds this supporting statement:

“Reached by msnbc for comment, a Christian Coalition spokeswoman confirmed that had Rubio filled out a candidate survey in 2010 when he was running for the Senate in Florida and attested to the voter guide’s accuracy, which she said was rigorously checked against candidate’s questionnaires, votes, and public statements.”

 

Image: Screenshot via MSNBC 

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'DOESN'T PASS THE STRAIGHT FACE TEST'

Trump’s Lawyer in Stormy Daniels Case Back in 2018 Called Hush Money Payoff ‘Illegal’: Report

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March 21, 2023

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Joe Tacopina, billed as a “powerhouse attorney” and “one of the country’s top trial attorneys” when Donald Trump hired him in January to sue a former prosecutor, back in 2018 weighed in on Trump’s $130,000 hush money payoff to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, calling the payment “illegal,” and “a potential campaign finance issue.”

According to a March 15, 2018 CNN transcript, and video (below) unearthed by Twitter user Acyn, Tacopina said the $130,000 hush money payoff to Stormy Daniels is “fair game” for prosecutors.

Tacopina told host Don Lemon,”if there is an issue with that payment to Stormy Daniels being — that it was made on behalf of the candidate, OK, and it was not declared, that is fair game, unfortunately, if that is the case.”

READ MORE: ‘All-Out War’: Trump’s Attorney Tells Kimberly Guilfoyle Ex-President Will Be ‘Loud and Proud’ When Showing Up for Indictment

He went on to discredit the defense some now appear to be making, at least in the court of public opinion, that Michael Cohen paid Stormy Daniels on his own, without Trump knowing.

“And you know, quite frankly, you know, Michael Cohen, again has made statements that would give rise to suspicion for any prosecutor to say, that doesn’t make sense that a lawyer took out a home equity loan with his own money, paid somebody that he didn’t even know on behalf of a client who, by the way, had the where with all the money to afford $130,000, and by the way, didn’t tell the client about the settlement agreement,” Tacopina said. “It’s an illegal agreement. It’s a fraud. If that’s in fact is the case, it doesn’t make sense,” he added.

“Doesn’t pass the straight face test. And quite frankly, if that is what happened we have a potential campaign finance issue.”

Less than two months later, in May of 2018, NPR reported Trump admitted to authorizing the payoff.

The Washington Post’s Aaron Blake Tuesday morning adds: “Per a CNN transcript, now-Trump lawyer Joe Tacopina in 2018 said the Stormy Daniels hush-money payment was ‘illegal, by the way.'”

READ MORE: Republicans Are ‘Obstructing Justice’ and ‘Becoming Accessories’ to Trump’s ‘Crimes’: Former Prosecutor

Trump is expected to be indicted this week or next, on what some experts believe could be charges related to falsification of business records and campaign finance related issues.

Watch the videos and see the transcript above or at this link.

Image via Shutterstock

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RIGHT WING EXTREMISM

Powerful GOP Committee Chair Admits He Can’t Control Marjorie Taylor Greene

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2 hours ago

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March 21, 2023

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Rep. James Comer (R-KY), who’s leading Republican investigations into President Joe Biden and his family, compared firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) to NBA superstar Lebron James.

The Kentucky Republican chairs the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, where he’s been tasked by GOP leadership and his constituents to investigate wild claims about the president, his son Hunter Biden and other Democrats, reported the New York Times.

“You know, the customer’s always right,” Comer said, referring to the conspiracy theories presented to him by constituents. “I say, ‘Let me see it,’ because I want to see where the source is. They don’t know that it’s QAnon, but it’s QAnon stuff.”

Greene, one of the Republicans who serves on his committee, has expressed support for QAnon conspiracies herself, but Comer admitted that he had little authority to rein in the influence she holds within the GOP caucus after a little more than two years in Congress.

DON’T MISS: C-SPAN caller blows off Trump’s Stormy Daniels payment: ‘He’s our salvation!’

“It’s hard for a coach to tell LeBron James what he’s doing wrong,” Comer said.

In addition to her history of spouting QAnon conspiracy theories, Greene has also questioned whether the Pentagon was really attacked during the 9/11 terrorist attacks, has called multiple school shootings “false flag” operations staged by the American government, and has even suggested that the Rothschild family is funding giant space lasers that are starting forest fires in California.

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‘All-Out War’: Trump’s Attorney Tells Kimberly Guilfoyle Ex-President Will Be ‘Loud and Proud’ When Showing Up for Indictment

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16 hours ago

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March 20, 2023

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Donald Trump’s attorney for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s hush money case against the ex-president was interviewed by Kimberly Guilfoyle for her new show on Monday. Guilfoyle is engaged to Donald Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump, Jr.

Attorney Joe Tacopina told Guilfoyle, the ex-Fox News host, that the ex-president will happily show up in Manhattan if and when DA Alvin Bragg indicts him.

Guilfoyle asked Tacopina if Trump is indicted would he want them to “do it virtually,” presumably so Trump could participate from Mar-a-Lago.

Frowning, Tacopina said the district attorney and prosecutors “do what they want.. At this point, this is an all-out war.”

“Donald Trump is the toughest human being I’ve ever met,” Tacopina continued.

“Donald Trump is not going to ask for anything from them. If they want him at 100 Centre Street,” the address of the New York County Criminal Court and NYPD Manhattan Central Booking, Tacopina told Guilfoyle, “he’ll be there loud and proud, and there’s nobody that’s gonna make him cower.”

READ MORE: Republicans Are ‘Obstructing Justice’ and ‘Becoming Accessories’ to Trump’s ‘Crimes’: Former Prosecutor

Guilfoyle does not appear to disclose her relationship to either Trump in her video, which is produced to appear as an actual news show, during which she shares legal theory with viewers.

Tacopina tells Guilfoyle Trump is the victim, and the only crime was extortion. The grand jury likely will have a difference of opinion.

He also falsely calls The Wall Street Journal, a sister entity to Fox News and The New York Post – all owned by Rupert Murdoch – a “far-left” publication.

Watch a short clip below or at this link.

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