Rubio: “I will appoint #SCOTUS justices that will interpret the Constitution as originally constructed.”

December 13th, 2015

During an interview on Meet the Press, Chock Todd asked Marco Rubio what he would do to reverse the Court’s decision in Obergefell. During an extended colloquy, Rubio rejected the call for a constitutional amendment, arguing that the Constitution didn’t need to be fixed–the Court needed to be fixed. So he would appoint a Justice to change it.

CHUCK TODD: Are you going to work to overturn the same sex marriage?

MARCO RUBIO: I disagree with it on constitutional grounds. As I have said–

CHUCK TODD: But are you going to work to overturn this?

MARCO RUBIO: I think it’s bad law. And for the following reason. If you want to change the definition of marriage, then you need to go to state legislatures and get them to change it. Because states have always defined marriage. And that’s why some people get married in Las Vegas by an Elvis impersonator. And in Florida, you have to wait a couple days when you get your permit. Every state has different marriage laws. But I do not believe that the court system was the right way to do it because I don’t believe–

CHUCK TODD: But it’s done now. Are you going to work to overturn it?

MARCO RUBIO: You can’t work to overturn it. What you–

CHUCK TODD: Sure. You can do a constitutional amendment.

MARCO RUBIO: As I’ve said, that would be conceding that the current Constitution is somehow wrong and needs to be fixed. I don’t think the current Constitution gives the federal government the power to regulate marriage. That belongs at the state and local level. And that’s why if you want to change the definition of marriage, which is what this argument is about.

It’s not about discrimination. It is about the definition of a very specific, traditional, and age-old institution. If you want to change it, you have a right to petition your state legislature and your elected representatives to do it. What is wrong is that the Supreme Court has found this hidden constitutional right that 200 years of jurisprudence had not discovered and basically overturn the will of voters in Florida where over 60% passed a constitutional amendment that defined marriage in the state constitution as the union of one man and one woman.

CHUCK TODD: So are you accepting the idea of same sex marriage in perpetuity?

MARCO RUBIO: It is the current law. I don’t believe any case law is settled law. Any future Supreme Court can change it. And ultimately, I will appoint Supreme Court justices that will interpret the Constitution as originally constructed.

He didn’t quite endorse an Obergefell litmus test, but this comes close.

I have previously blogged about how the candidates discuss the Supreme Court, including Marco Rubio (herehere, and here), Jeb Bush (here and here), Rand Paul (here and here), Ted Cruz, Hillary Clinton, and Bernie Sanders.

Disclosure: I advise the Rand Paul campaign.