The GOP Mask Slips Again, Con't

Yesterday Indiana GOP Sen. Mike Braun let the mask slip and indicated that he'd be okay with "states deciding" who can be married, because like all Republicans, he wants to be free of federal protections for those people so that he can live in a white ethnofacist Christian theocracy. This morning it's I CONDEMN RACISM IN ANY FORM which is actually not the "walk-back" that the headlines decree.

Sen. Mike Braun said during a media call Tuesday that the U.S. Supreme Court was wrong to legalize interracial marriage decades ago.

That decision should have been left to individual states, he said.

Five hours later, Braun released a statement saying he misunderstood "a line of questioning," and emphasized that he condemns racism "in any form."

During the press call earlier Tuesday, Braun was asked about the landmark Loving v. Virginia court case after he explained he thought abortion rights questions should have been left up to the states back when Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973. Mandating abortion access was judicial activism, Braun said, adding that individual states should instead be able to decide how restrictive abortion access should be.

A reporter then asked if he applied the same reasoning to the Supreme Court's decision in 1967 that struck down state laws banning interracial marriage under the 14th amendment, which guarantees all citizens equal protection under the law.

"When it comes to issues, you can't have it both ways," Braun said. "When you want that diversity to shine within our federal system, there are going to be rules and proceedings, they're going to be out of sync with maybe what other states would do. It's the beauty of the system, and that's where the differences among points of view in our 50 states ought to express themselves."

Braun doubled down when asked to clarify if he would be OK with leaving the decision of whether to allow interracial marriage up to states. After all, states had decided to make interracial marriage illegal.

"Yes, I think that that's something that if you're not wanting the Supreme Court to weigh in on issues like that, you're not going to be able to have your cake and eat it too," Braun responded. "I think that's hypocritical."

Hours later Braun backtracked in a written statement sent to media.

“Earlier during a virtual press conference I misunderstood a line of questioning that ended up being about interracial marriage," Braun said. "Let me be clear on that issue — there is no question the Constitution prohibits discrimination of any kind based on race, that is not something that is even up for debate, and I condemn racism in any form, at all levels and by any states, entities, or individuals.”

 

I "misunderstood." No he did not.

 

Straight up lie.

 

If anything, his statement does nothing to address his states' right Confederacy position. He still didn't say that he believed Loving or Obergfell was decided correctly, nor Griswold. And he gets away with this because of course treating those people as second-class citizens with few rights isn't "racism" in his eyes, it's "protecting the closely-held religious beliefs" of the white majority.

They expect the Supreme Court to give it to them.