GOPers Talk 'Persecuted' Christians, Defying Supreme Court

The debate among four low-polling Republican candidates, derisively dubbed the "kids' table" debate, didn't have a lot to do with LGBT issues, but they did come up -- specifically, marriage equality and the "religious freedom" of those who oppose it.

During questioning about how to balance national security needs with civil rights -- the conversation turned on a Muslim teenager in Texas who was arrested after bringing a homemade clock to school, as his teachers thought it might be a bomb -- Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal asserted that the greatest discrimination in the U.S. today is not against Muslims but Christians.

People who have a "traditional" view of marriage, like Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis, are being persecuted, Jindal asserted. Davis was famously jailed for defying a court order to issue marriage licenses to both same-sex and opposite-sex couples. He also touted his signing of an executive order in Louisiana to protect people with such views from government-imposed penalties.

Former New York Gov. George Pataki, who supports marriage equality, responded that Davis's religious views can't take precedence over her oath of office as a public official "I would have fired her," Pataki asserted. (As an elected official, she would have to be impeached rather than fired, by the way.)

Jindal later piped up, "I'd like the left to give us a list of jobs that Christians are not allowed to have."

Rick Santorum, a former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, noted his support for the First Amendment Defense Act, a piece of federal legislation that would prevent the government from imposing penalties on businesses and individuals who claim faith-based objections to certain laws.

He also said the Supreme Court's marriage equality ruling was "unconstitutional" and that the nation needs a president who will resist such rulings. Pataki responded that he wouldn't want a president who defies the Supreme Court, and U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina noted that he learned his first day in law school that the Supreme Court's job is to interpret laws. He said he didn't agree with the ruling, but it is the law of the land.

Graham also used the discussion to turn to something he cited several times in the debate, the need to defeat "radical Islam" in the form of ISIS and others. "Whether you're the cake baker, the gay couple, or the Baptist preacher, radical Islam will kill you all," he said.

The debate aired on CNN from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif. It's being followed by a debate among the 11 higher-polling candidates. Pictured, from left: Pataki, Santorum, Jindal, and Graham.