Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) said Tuesday that he believes interracial marriage should not be legal nationwide and that individual states should decide whether to allow it, reports the Huffington Post.
“So you would be OK with the Supreme Court leaving the question of interracial marriage to the states?”reporter Dan Carden of the Times of Northwest Indiana asked Braun.
“Yes,” the senator replied on the call with Indiana reporters. “I think that’s something ― if you’re not wanting the Supreme Court to weigh in on issues like that, you’re not going to be able to have your cake and eat it too. I think that’s hypocritical.”
The Supreme Court legalized interracial marriage nationwide in 1967, in the landmark case Loving v. Virginia.
The world Braun would return to is what same-sex couples faced until 2015 — their marriage was not recognized federally and might be legal in one state but not the next. That sort of discrimination had ramifications in all corners of life, including medical decisions and family planning.
Braun later walked back his comments, claiming he misunderstood the question.
