Republican President-elect Donald Trump said he’s “fine” with same-sex marriage as the law of the land, calling the issue “settled” by the Supreme Court.
The comments – in his first television interview since winning the presidency – sharply contrast with his party’s orthodoxy, his running mate’s longtime position and comments the New York Republican made during the primary.
“It’s law,” he said in an interview with CBS’ ‘60 Minutes’ that aired Sunday. “It was settled in the Supreme Court. I mean it’s done.”
“These cases have gone to the Supreme Court. They’ve been settled. And I’m – I’m fine with that,” he added.
In the same interview, when asked if he would appoint a Supreme Court justice who wants to overturn Roe v. Wade, Trump said his judges will be “pro-life,” and suggested that decision could be overturned.
“If it ever were overturned, it would go back to the states,” Trump said.
Women seeking abortions would have to go “go to another state” for the procedure.
The Republican Party’s official platform, ratified by the party in July, opposes same-sex marriage, condemns the Supreme Court’s rulings Obergefell v. Hodges and United States v. Windsor and supports proposed “religious freedom” legislation that critics say would allow businesses to deny services to gay people.
Trump’s comments about gay marriage break with the longtime position of his running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, who signed a religious freedom bill into law in 2015, but walked back on some of its language after facing backlash from across the country.
Trump, who has spent his life in liberal New York City, referenced gay Republicans at the Republican National Convention, and said transgender people should use whatever bathroom they feel comfortable using during his campaign.
But in the heat of the Republican presidential primary, he also said gay marriage should have been decided by the states, and said he would consider appointing judges to overrule the Supreme Court’s marriage decisions.
“I would strongly consider that, yes,” he said in a January Fox News interview.
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