South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham has strong feelings about same-sex marriage and abortion. He’s stubborn in his belief that decisions around these personal issues should be up to individual states and that the U.S. Supreme Court should stay out of it. But when the fiery issue of interracial marriage comes up, Graham is fast to pivot to any other topic.
“I’ve been consistent. I think states should decide the issue of marriage, and states should decide the issue of abortion,” Graham told Dana Bash, host of CNN’s State of the Union, on Sunday. “I have respect for South Carolina. South Carolina voters I trust to define marriage and deal with the issue of abortion. Not nine people on the court. That’s my view.”
Of course Graham trusts South Carolina voters—Republican voters, anyway—to decide on abortion. As The Washington Post reports, the state is angling for a total ban on abortion, starting with a bill making it illegal to give “information [about how to get an abortion] to a pregnant woman, or someone seeking information on behalf of a pregnant woman, by telephone, internet, or any other mode of communication.”
RELATED STORY: State Rep. introduces amendment to anti-abortion bill that would ban erectile dysfunction drugs
When Bash pushed Graham to talk about the states deciding interracial marriage and whether or not the court should overturn Loving v. Virginia as well, Lindsey turned at breakneck speed.
“No, here’s the point. We’re talking about things that are not happening because you don’t want to talk about inflation, you don’t want to talk about crime ... This is all politics, my friends. Instead of trying to solve problems like unstable people having guns, we’re talking about constitutional decisions that are still in effect. But if you’re going to ask me to have the federal government take over defining marriage, I’m going to say no,” said Graham in his usual testy tone.
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Graham has clearly said he plans to vote against the Respect for Marriage Act in the Senate to which aims to protect same-sex marriage.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who appeared with Graham on CNN Sunday, told Bash that he thinks same-sex marriage “should be codified because there’s a real danger of it being overturned by the Supreme Court.”
Blumenthal added:
“This Supreme Court has indicated it has a hit list, beginning with marriage equality, contraception, possibly others as well, Loving vs. Virginia. And I think we need to guarantee these rights to assure people that they can marry the person they love.”
Lawmakers have been fast-tracking making plans to create legislation to protect same-sex marriage ever since Justice Clarence Thomas offered that Obergefell should also be “revisited” after Roe v. Wade was overturned. Thomas, who is Black, also mentioned revisiting the court’s decisions on interracial marriage (despite the fact that his wife is white), as well as access to birth control.
Known for his fiery temper and “get off my lawn” angry scrunched face, Graham was admonished Sunday after he accused Sen. Maggie Hassan, a Democrat from New Hampshire, of being “deceitful” and “dishonest” when she proposed an alternative to his amendment to kill a 16.4-cent-per-barrel tax on oil products imported to the U.S., The Hill reports. Graham was warned by Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, to calm down.
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