Marco Rubio showed his true anti-LGBT colors in an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network, declaring if elected he would reverse President Obama's executive orders to stop religious business owners who contract with the federal government from discriminating against gays as well as orders on gender identity, and appoint conservative justices to the U.S. Supreme Court who oppose same-sex marriage and abortion.
"The executive orders would be to reverse the executive orders the president has made on things like gender equality in restrooms," Rubio told CBN's David Brody in an interview November 24 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. "You've seen some local districts and others been forced to provide girls access to a boys' bathroom and so forth. These sorts of things you've seen in Illinois for example, but also ensure that we're not doing anything that at any part in our government that is putting organizations that are motivated by their faith or organized around their faith from having to violate the tenets of their faith and that includes government contractors. There are many government contractors and small companies who provide services to the government who are faith-based people, and they are being compelled to sin by government in their business conduct. That is not something we should be supporting."
Rubio told Brody his goal is to protect religious liberty in America: "That includes reversing any administrative decisions made by this president that force religious, or religious-motivated entities. You may not be owned by a church, but you are a religious school, or your mission is to spread the Gospel and adhere to God's teachings ensure that people in the private sector and the not-for-profit sector are being protected in living out their faith."
Rubio also said that he will only nominate Supreme Court justices who believe that the court's rulings on marriage equality and abortion rights are "constitutionally flawed."
"I think one of the biggest things the next President is going to do," Rubio told Brody, "is appoint justices to the Supreme Court -- justices who understand that the Constitution is not a living and breathing document. It is a document of limitation and it's supposed to be interpreted and applied based on its original intent. And there is no way that you can read that Constitution and deduce from it that there is constitutional right to an abortion, or a constitutional right to marry someone of the same sex. And what you have is a Supreme Court that wanted to reach a certain policy outcome and so creatively manipulated the Constitution to discover a right that for over two centuries, some of the most brilliant minds in legal history didn't find.
"So you need judges that understand how constitutionally flawed that those two kinds of rulings and others have been," he added, "and that's what the most important thing the next President will do is appoint Supreme Court justices that actually will apply the constitution irrespective of their personal feelings about the issue."
Brody posted his interview with Sen. Marco Rubio and a transcript online Saturday. Click below to watch CBN's video and scroll down to read the transcript.
TRANSCRIPT from CBN News The Brody File:
David Brody: What could a President Rubio do in a situation like that? A lot of folks have talked about maybe religious liberty, the religious freedom act. Mike Huckabee and others have said some things like that.
Marco Rubio: There's no doubt that we need to be extra vigilant now about protecting the religious liberties of Americans and that includes having a justice department that's vigilant about ensuring that those who hold traditional values are not being discriminated against. That includes reversing any administrative decisions made by this president that force religious, or religious-motivated entities. You may not be owned by a church, but you are a religious school, or your mission is to spread the Gospel and adhere to God's teachings ensure that people in the private sector and the not-for-profit sector are being protected in living out their faith.
And beyond it, I think one of the biggest things the next President is going to do is appoint justices to the Supreme Court -- justices who understand that the Constitution is a living and breathing document. It is a document of limitation and it's supposed to be interpreted and applied based on its original intent. And there is no way that you can read that Constitution and deduce from it that there is constitutional right to an abortion, or a constitutional right to marry someone of the same sex. And what you have is a Supreme Court that wanted to reach a certain policy outcome and so creatively manipulated the Constitution to discover a right that for over two centuries, some of the most brilliant minds and legal history didn't find. So you need judges that understand how constitutionally flawed that those two kinds of rulings and others have been and that's what the most important thing the next President will do is appoint Supreme Court justices that actually will apply the Constitution irrespective of their personal feelings about the issue.
Brody: As well as potential executive orders and possibly a strong attorney general in that role.
Rubio: Well, the executive orders would be to reverse the executive orders the president has made on things like gender equality in restrooms. You've seen some local districts and others been forced to, you know, provide girls access to a boys' bathroom and so forth. These sorts of things you've seen in Illinois for example, but also ensure that we're not doing anything that at any part in our government that is putting organizations that are motivated by their faith or organized around their faith from having to violate the tenets of their faith and that includes government contractors. There are many government contractors and small companies who provide services to the government who are faith-based people, and they are, they are being compelled to sin by government in their business conduct. That is not something we should be supporting.