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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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Warning Signs Flash for GOP as CNN Analyst Predicts House Flip

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As Republicans continue their exodus from the House, a CNN analyst reveals that Democrats hold an advantage in party identification over the GOP, Democrats identifying as liberal just hit a 50-year high, and Democrats — he predicts — will take back the House in the November midterm elections.

CNN analyst Harry Enten reported that “the self identified liberalness of this country is at a 50-year high.” And he noted that “more folks are identifying as liberal than at any point since the Gerald Ford administration.”

In 1976, 30 percent of Democrats said they were liberal, Enten said.

“Look at where we are today: 59 percent — 3 in 5 Democrats — say they are liberal.”

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“This Democratic party is a liberal — it is a liberal party. Fifty-nine percent of Democrats now identify as liberal,” he continued. “That is also a 50-year high.”

Enten noted that “that is not the only good news for liberals.”

“The party ID margin, Democrats versus Republicans. Now get this, in the latest reading according to Gallup last quarter, it is an eight-point advantage for Democrats.”

“That looks nothing like what we saw going into the 2022 midterms when Republicans had a five-point advantage, and of course, took back the House. This is even better than what we saw Democrats had back in 2017, in quarter four, when they had a six-point advantage, and, of course, Democrats easily took back the House then.”

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“Democrats are gonna take back the House,” he said.

Enten also pointed to the prediction markets, which now say there is a 77 percent chance of Democrats taking back the House in November.

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Democrat Demands DOJ and DHS Reveal How Many Pardoned ‘Insurrectionists’ Have Been Hired

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A prominent Democrat is demanding to know how many January 6 “insurrectionists” have been hired by the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, as critics warn that federal agents under President Donald Trump are increasingly engaging in violent enforcement actions.

“We know that several participants in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol have been rewarded with high-ranking positions in the Department of Justice (DOJ),” U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, wrote to Attorney General Pam Bondi and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.

“However, it remains unclear how many more have been invited to join the ranks of this Administration, including among the masked Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents and officers that have dragged, tackled, beaten, tased, shot, and killed citizens and non-citizens alike in communities across the country,” he added.

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According to Raskin, Jared Wise, a former Supervisory Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), “stormed his way into the Capitol Building” on January 6, 2021.

“As he did so, he taunted and threaten police officers defending the building and the ones inside, screaming: ‘You guys are disgusting. I’m former—I’m former law enforcement. You’re disgusting.”

Raskin included additional language attributed to Wise, then wrote that he “has never expressed remorse or contrition for his criminal actions.”

Wise was pardoned by President Donald Trump, along with nearly 1,600 others, “including hundreds of cop beaters.”

“Today, Mr. Wise serves as senior adviser in the office of the Deputy Attorney General, alongside another January 6th participant, Ed Martin, the U.S. Pardon Attorney and head of the DOJ Weaponization Working Group,” Raskin wrote.

Congressman Raskin also blasted the recruitment and vetting processes being used by the Trump administration.

“For its part, DHS seems to be courting pardoned January 6th insurrectionists. It uses white nationalist ‘dog whistles’ in its recruitment campaign for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents that appear aimed at stirring members of extremist militias, including the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, and Three Percenters, which participated in the insurrection,” he stated. “The recruitment campaign began with a $50,000 sign-on bonus, removal of the college degree requirement, and a relaxed vetting process.”

“Who is hiding behind these masks?” Raskin demanded to know. “How many of them were among the violent rioters who attacked the Capitol on January 6th and were convicted of their offenses? The American people deserve to know how many of these violent insurrectionists have been given guns and badges by this Administration.”

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Pirro Backtracks as Powell Investigation Rapidly Goes Off the Rails

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Jeanine Pirro, the Fox News host turned Trump U.S. Attorney, appears to be quickly backtracking in her office’s investigation of Jerome Powell. The esteemed Federal Reserve Chairman announced on Sunday that he is being investigated by the Trump Department of Justice, sending markets — and prominent Republicans — spinning.

Pirro, in a Monday night social media post, insisted that Powell has not been indicted, saying: “The word ‘indictment’ has come out of Mr. Powell’s mouth, no one else’s.”

According to The Daily Beast, Pirro issued her “ultra-defensive statement” after “major backlash” against her investigation into the 72-year-old Republican investment banker and lawyer who has steered the Federal Reserve since 2018, when President Donald Trump appointed him chairman.

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The Daily Beast reported that Pirro’s investigation is “an inquiry that even Republican lawmakers have blasted as a revenge plot against one of the president’s adversaries that threatens the independence of America’s central bank.”

Suggesting that Pirro may have gone “rogue,” the Beast added that reports suggest “Pirro failed to obtain the necessary sign-off from her superiors at the Department of Justice before subpoenaing the Federal Reserve as part of her probe, according to Bloomberg.”

It appears that others were also left out of the loop in the unprecedented, high-profile investigation.

“Sources also told NBC News that Pirro’s office did not contact the White House or the Treasury Department before issuing the subpoenas, and that Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte—who spearheaded the push to investigate the Federal Reserve—was also allegedly left in the dark.”

“Investors are doubtful of her success,” Bloomberg News added.  “While U.S. assets initially sold off on news of the investigation in early trading Monday, stocks and bonds bounced back by the end of the day. That suggests traders think Republicans will find ways to dial back the probe given the critical importance investors assign to a Federal Reserve that’s free from political influence.”

On Sunday, Chairman Powell revealed that he is under a criminal investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice, an investigation stemming from his congressional testimony on the renovation of Federal Reserve buildings. The Fed is fully self-funded, and that renovation is not funded by American taxpayers.

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