Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus gave a tone-deaf response to a question about marriage equality during a Friday morning appearance on MSNBC’s Morning Joe.
In response to the RNC’s recent report urging the party to reach out to minority voters, including gays, Huffington Post‘s Sam Stein asked what Priebus would “tell an independent-minded gay man who believes the right to marry is a civil right? What would you tell him about why he should vote Republican?”
Priebus, completely ignoring the GOP’s ongoing war on gay rights, responded “my God, I don’t agree with my wife on 100 percent of the issues but it doesn’t mean we don’t have a great marriage.” Of course, given Republicans’ ongoing efforts to deny gays the legal right to marry, maybe this wasn’t the best example. Priebus essentially said, we as a party don’t believe you should have the same rights that other Americans enjoy, but maybe we can agree on other issues, like the economy and education — so come on over to our side!
The GOP still doesn’t get it. To paraphrase James Carville, “It’s the policies, stupid!”
