Vice President Joe Biden Endorses Marriage Equality, White House Responds
Vice President Joe Biden expressed his support for marriage equality over the weekend on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“I am absolutely comfortable with the fact that men marrying men, women marrying women and heterosexual men marrying women are entitled to the same exact rights,” he said. “All the civil rights, all the civil liberties. And quite frankly I don’t see much of a distinction beyond that.”
Biden wouldn’t say whether the administration would seek legislation federally recognizing marriage for same-sex couples in a second term stating, “the president sets the policy.” But the Obama campaign’s top strategist David Axelrod tweeted:
“@DAVID AXELROD: @chucktodd @meetthepress What VP said-that all married couples should have exactly the same legal rights-is precisely POTUS’s position.”
In a statement released to Politico, a spokesperson from the Vice President’s office maintains Biden’s comments do not fall outside the administration’s current stance.
“The Vice President was saying what the President has said previously – that committed and loving same-sex couples deserve the same rights and protections enjoyed by all Americans, and that we oppose any effort to rollback those rights […] Beyond that, the Vice President was expressing that he too is evolving on the issue, after meeting so many committed couples and families in this country.”
NBJC’s applauds Vice President Joe Biden’s support of marriage equality and LGBT Americans.
