Current Affairs

Donald Trump calls Republican rival a ‘liar’ over claim Trump supports same-sex marriage

Feb 12 2016
Written by Nick Duffy

Donald Trump has hit out at rival Ted Cruz – after Cruz claimed that Trump doesn’t oppose equal marriage.

The billionaire reality TV star-turned politician has tied himself in knots over equal marriage in the past few weeks, after he was caught out apparently telling different people what they wanted to hear.

Mr Trump previously branded opposition to same-sex marriage a “dead issue” – but told Fox News last week that he would likely back a plot to overturn it, before telling a lesbian TV journalist that he would “move forward” on LGBT rights just days later.

When challenged on the contradiction in a third interview, Mr Trump attempted to maintain both contradicting views simultaneously.

However, the Republican was angered when anti-LGBT Republican Ted Cruz ran ads suggesting that he was in favour of same-sex marriage.

Trump tweeted: “Lying Cruz put out a statement, ‘Trump & [Marco] Rubio are w/Obama on gay marriage.’ Cruz is the worst liar, crazy or very dishonest. Perhaps all 3?

“How can Ted Cruz be an Evangelical Christian when he lies so much and is so dishonest?”
Donald Trump calls Republican rival a ‘liar’ over claim Trump supports same-sex marriage
Of course, Senator Cruz would likely point out that he was only quoting Mr Trump’s own words on the matter, given Trump has indeed claimed to support equal marriage in the past.

Trump last year said he’d attended “great” gay weddings himself, adding: “Anybody that’s making that an issue is doing it for political reasons. The Supreme Court ruled on it.”

Contradicting his previous stance, he recently then told Fox News: “If I’m elected I would be very strong in putting certain judges on the bench that maybe could [overturn the ruling].”

Contradicting that stance just days later, he then told lesbian journalist Sue O’Connell he’d “move forward”, adding: “We’re going to bring people together, and that’s your thing and other people have their thing.”

Contradicting his stance for a third time, he told NBC: “I was talking about bringing people together… appointing Justices would take a long time, frankly, because I don’t know how long it would take. I will appoint them, and we will see how they will vote.”