Chris Christie Calls Obama a Coward on Gay Marriage: VIDEO
On this morning's Morning Joe, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie talked about his veto of marriage equality and compared his position to that of President Obama's, Think Progress LGBT reports.
After the Washington Post's Jonathan Capehart points out that Christie wants to put civil rights up for a public vote and Obama doesn't, Christie lashes out at Obama, calling him a coward:
The President is silent on this like he’s silent on every issue that’s difficult for him. [...] Let’s have the President of the United States show some courage, come on this program, look into the camera like I’m looking into the camera, and state his position. He won’t because he wants to have it both ways. I’m not looking to have it both ways, I vetoed the bill. That’s my position. What I’ve offered to the supporters of same-sex marriage is if one of your reasons for why I should have voted signed it was because you’re telling me the majority of the people of New Jersey want it, then prove it. Put it on the ballot and prove it. At least I’m standing up for what I believe in. The President has hidden on this issue, Jonathan, he’s hidden on it….This is the type of cowardice that we don’t want.
Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...
The best defense is a good offense. Attack others to deflect.
Posted by: TJ | Feb 23, 2012 10:41:42 AM
Wow, Gov. Christie is awfully obsessed with President Obama. And it's utter BS that somehow Obama wants to have it both ways but Christie doesn't. Of course they both want to have it both ways, so Christie is only being disingenuous. He even says if a majority of voters supported marriage equality in a referendum he doesn't really care. If it's not really a matter of conscience for him, then what is it? A political calculation, obviously, with an eye on the right wing he'll need to get beyond NJ.
What he doesn't say is that Obama, were he stuck in NJ instead of President, would never have vetoed the marriage equality bill, no 2012 liberal Democrat would have. (In defiance of a Dem legislative majority, as if!) And, Christie, were he President, would be taking the Republican stances on gay issues demanded by the zealot base. That's the difference in their marriage positions, one Christie is fully aware of but too cowardly to admit.
Posted by: Ernie | Feb 23, 2012 10:42:13 AM
No, Christie.... leadership is with the person who recognizes the equality is promissed by the Constitution -- and is not negotiable, even by a popular vote. Things based on ones personal morals or sense of religious right is not stated as the bottom line. Amazing that the Republicans proclaim themselves as conservatives, but don't understand the very words of the Constitution.
Posted by: pierre | Feb 23, 2012 10:42:30 AM
It's a false equivalency. Obama has never had a bill stating that marriage should be afforded to all individuals based on equality but Christie has. This is what the republicans are going to be doing with every issue they don't have a leg to stand on, turn and blame it on Obama even if it doesn't make sense. Just look how the freaks in that debate turned the reproductive question around and made it look like it's all Obamas fault and he's a baby killer. Dumbass voters fall for this every time.
Posted by: realitythink | Feb 23, 2012 10:57:00 AM
Deflect, Christie, deflect!
Posted by: Gregoire | Feb 23, 2012 11:04:30 AM
even though chris christie is big fat satan, i think that obama is definitely a coward on the issue. a fierce advocate, he isn't.
i voted for him, and i am unhappy with how fierce of an advocate he has been for my community. but...i'm hopeful that in his 2nd term, he'll show & prove. hopefully, christie will die of a heart attack by then.
kiss kiss hug hug
Posted by: josh | Feb 23, 2012 11:12:10 AM
REALITYTHINK: That was my thought as I watched the debate. Newtie deftly avoided the question by making it all Obama's fault. It made no sense, but worked perfectly.
Posted by: TJ | Feb 23, 2012 11:12:26 AM
Scott is correct. Christie has always supported civil unions and still does to this day. It is refreshing to see a politician that is secure in what he believes and actually says it.
Capehart went in with guns blazing and didn't answer the question Christie asked him. Obama has been silent except for the "I'm evolving" bull crap. What he is doing is stringing along the gays so we'll give him money and support for the re-election.
Maybe since I'm 48 and have been with my partner for 20 years, I view Civil Unions as huge success for gays and lesbians. Maybe the younger crowd doesn't view it that way because they have grown up in a little more "forgiving" culture than we older folks did.
I don't care if it is called marriage or civil unions. It really doesn't matter as long as you have the protections afforded married hetero couples.
I will also say to denigrate Christie based on his appearance rather than the issues is irresponsible.
Posted by: Rich | Feb 23, 2012 11:14:27 AM
Shut up and ear another pork belly sandwich.
Posted by: jakeinlove | Feb 23, 2012 11:17:17 AM
Just let me say about Christie what Christopher Hitchens said about Jerry Falwell: "If you gave him and enema, you could bury him in a matchbox."
Christie is an ugly little charlatan, as hateful and ignorant as they come. When he goes (and given his sinful disease of gluttony it will no doubt be sooner rather than later) few will mourn his passing and the world will be a better place without him.
Posted by: Bob R | Feb 23, 2012 11:20:40 AM
Why does Christi suddenly pop up everywhere on national TV? Is it still possible for him to get the GOP nomination in case Rick is unstoppable? Or is he preparing for a 2016 run?
Posted by: simon | Feb 23, 2012 11:23:44 AM
That the State Legislature in NJ approved it is an indicator that the public wants it as they are elected by their constituents. That he vetoed it is an indication that he is, indeed, the coward, and is out of touch with what the people of his state want. His personal view shouldn't matter.
Posted by: Davelandia | Feb 23, 2012 11:27:59 AM
So, he knows he did the wrong thing and tries to deflect attention to Obama. Christie's a coward. And Scott, he is a villian here--we all know that civil unions and marriage are not the same, and never will be. The fact that at a state level they are "the same" (which is never really true) does not help. The federal govt has stopped defending DOMA--if DOMA falls it means that gay MARRIAGES will be recognized at a federal level--Civil Unions? Probably not.
Posted by: db | Feb 23, 2012 11:42:55 AM
lol, irony
Posted by: will | Feb 23, 2012 11:49:26 AM
@Ernie You have no evidence at all that Obama would sign a same-sex marriage bill if he were a Governor.
The bottom line is that both Obama and Hillary Clinton did and continue to do exactly what Christie is doing--namely, to put political expediency before principle in the name of Presidential politics. Even after having been elected, neither Obama nor Clinton has changed their stance of opposition to same-sex marriage, so it is identical to Christie's, whether any of you want to face the truth or not. And Clinton, for her part, does not even have anything to lose by changing her position at this point.
And let me tell you something else. Obama was perfectly ready and willing to let DADT repeal die in the lame-duck session--in fact, behind the scenes, he pressured advocates to take it off the Congressional agenda in favor of the START treaty and the Dream Act and a bunch of other things.....and the only reason it stayed on the agenda was because Senators Levin and Lieberman (an independent) and Senator Collins (a Republican) kept it there. This pressure behind the scenes is what Barney Frank was referring cryptically to in the press conference after passage, saying he would talk about it when he writes his memoirs one day.
So, in fact, Obama HAS been a coward when it comes to gay rights, across the board, not only with regard to same-sex marriage....and he continues to be.
All the shows of "support" for gay rights over the last year (including Hillary's sppech at the UN on gay rights) have been motivated by the realization that an election is coming which he might not win without the same amount of support he got from gays four years ago......as usual, however, he pays lip service (but always without taking any concrete actions--notice the reluctance to sign an Executive Order on ENDA)......because, of course, it is politically expediency that motivates him rather than principle.
Posted by: Rick | Feb 23, 2012 11:55:56 AM
RICH - It most definitely matters what it is called. Separate but equal is accepting second class status. It is not good enough. I deserve nothing less than equality.
Posted by: TJ | Feb 23, 2012 12:07:43 PM
TJ, that's the beauty of America. We can each believe what we want and be justified. To me, a civil union wouldn't make me a second class citizen. We would be afforded all of the 1,400 plus benefits the government recognizes to hetero sexual couples.
We just spent a few thousand dollars, with more to come, having our wills revised. So, I apologize if I'm more interested in having these rights granted to us rather than dwell on what our union would be called. It's a hell of a lot better than not having them.
Posted by: Rich | Feb 23, 2012 12:23:00 PM
RICH - Pragmatically, the rights are valuable. But in the long-term, respect and dignity are priceless. Validation and justice are not icing on the cake. They are the cake.
Posted by: TJ | Feb 23, 2012 12:31:14 PM
Somebody go get fat boy Christie some more cheese fries. Dude gets all cranky and hypocritical when he hasn't had his daily quota of grease.
Posted by: jamal49 | Feb 23, 2012 12:32:56 PM
Deflecting bully deflects.
Posted by: madmonkey | Feb 23, 2012 12:38:09 PM
We seem to be forgetting the other political calculus that went into this. Democrats, knowing they faced a veto, chose now to push this bill. They knew they would be putting Christie on the defensive no matter which way he went. They also knew that NJ gays and lesbians wouldn't be getting married any time soon. My feeling is that Christie looks bad without saying a word. Then he gets defensive and betrays his feudal approach to running the state and he looks less and less like a republican moderate, and less and less like the kind of guy that most New Jerseyans, by and large a reasonable bunch of folks, want as their governor. I still can't believe such a loud and obnoxious jerk was elected in the first place.
Posted by: Don | Feb 23, 2012 12:58:43 PM
I love how he acts like he's representing the majority of New Jersians even though a majority in both houses passed the bill and put it on his desk. What majority is he speaking of?
Posted by: D.R.H. | Feb 23, 2012 1:01:06 PM
You can disagree with his position (as I certainly do) but the nasty remarks about his weight shows how little tolerance you have for others. In case you didn't know, you have gay brothers and sisters who are ALSO fat. Chew on that one for a while.
Posted by: Brokebackvol | Feb 23, 2012 1:06:18 PM
Rich
First thanks for the age, it explains a lot
Obama has always been for civil unions, I'm glad that's enough for you it is not for me and most of the community.
Obama always wanted DADT gone, it was your side that prevented it from happening faster, republicans filibustered it requiring 60 votes to shut it down. Republican RAN to help that happen.
At this point you do not get the federal benefits that come with marriage, not until DOMA is gone. Another bill the president has stated he would sign, a republican president would not. As far as getting DOMA repealed not all dems are on board but hell with all the republican support we don't need all the dems right Rick?
Pass a marrige bill in congress, put it on the desk of a republican and a democrat, my monies on the dem.
I guess we see steps differently, maybe age plays in to it who knows. Us younger ones (I'm really not that young...) will continue to fight for things like marriage so people like you can benefit from it.
Question for you, what state you from? I'm from ct. Does your state offer marriage? And when it does are you going to have one?
Chris should hope Obama gets another term, that way he can run in 2016 as pres and not someone's side kick. If a republican wins he'll have to wait. Im thinking he wants the oval office.
The majority of the community will support Obama and they should. Our fight is not over and he's the best man to help us win that fight. Again angry gays remember, the president does not make law congress does. Get off your a$$ and do something to help or STFU
Posted by: GeorgeM | Feb 23, 2012 2:00:38 PM
C'mon Christie. You're as big a coward as you claim Obama to be. What makes you better? You had a chance to do the tight thing and YOU were a coward. Go back and hide your fat head in your bucket of Fred chicken you ass...
Posted by: Pdxblueysul | Feb 23, 2012 2:07:13 PM