ABOVE: Donald Trump, photo public domain.
Donald Trump was vague on Monday in response to the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision affirming anti-LGBTQ discrimination is illegal under federal law, saying the justices have ruled and “we live with their decision.”
Trump made the remarks during a Cabinet meeting in the White House when asked by the Associated Press about the ruling, which determined anti-LGBTQ decision is a form of sex discrimination, thus illegal under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
“I read the decision and some people were surprised,” Trump said. “They ruled and we live their decision. It’s what it’s all about. We live with the decision of the Supreme Court — very powerful, very powerful decision actually — but they have so ruled.”
White House counselor Kellyanne Conway confirmed to the Washington Blade during a press gaggle earlier in the day Trump was briefed on the ruling.
Trump affords the vague comments as conservative commentators have expressed anger over the ruling and accused U.S. Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch, who wrote the decision, of selling out on his textualist ideals. Proponents of the ruling, however, are quick to point out the court’s determination anti-LGBTQ discrimination is sex discrimination is perfectly consistent with a textualist interpretation of the law.
In contrast to Trump’s vague comments, President Obama when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled for marriage equality nationwide in 2015 delivered a statement in the Rose Garden to hail the decision, saying it was a time when “justice arrives like a thunderbolt.”
