Idiot of the Week: GOP Senator Mike Braun says" Legalizing Interracial Marriage Was a Mistake"

Wow. Conservatives are really embracing white supremacists more every day. This week, Republican Senator Mike Braun thinks that interracial marriages should be illegal and only allowed on a state-by-state basis. He said that gay marriage and the right to abortions should also be left to states only. This guy is a bigot and white supremacist and I hope people of Indiana are smart enough to vote him out.  Here's the story>

 Senator Says Legalizing Interracial Marriage Was a Mistake

BY JORDAN WEISSMANN, Slate.com MARCH 22, 2022

Republican Sen. Mike Braun is attempting a rather unconvincing cleanup job after telling reporters on Tuesday that the Supreme Court was wrong to strike down state laws banning interracial marriage in its landmark 1967 decision, Loving v. Virginia.

Braun, the junior senator from Indiana, made his comments during a media call in which he argued that policy issues should generally be left in the hands of state governments whenever possible, especially in the case of abortion.

“So you would be OK with the Supreme Court leaving the question of interracial marriage to the states?” a reporter asked.

“Yes,” Braun answered. “I think that that’s something that 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.“

HERE ARE HIS COMMENTS ON VIDEO: https://twitter.com/HeartlandSignal/status/1506375171455819777?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1506375171455819777%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fslate.com%2Fnews-and-politics%2F2022%2F03%2Frepublican-sen-mike-braun-says-supreme-court-should-not-have-struck-down-state-laws-banning-interracial-marriage-then-backtracks-unconvincingly.html ************************************

HERE IS THE EXCHANGE WITH THE REPORTER (Note: He also noted that Interracial and gay marriages and abortion should be left up to "states.")

For context, keep in mind that this exchange occurred after a long question-and-answer session, in which Braun repeatedly suggested that states should handle major policy issues when it was practical, even including ones like marijuana legalization that conservatives often prefer to address federally.

Reporter: Hi, Senator. You spoke about judicial activism. If the Supreme Court later this year strikes down the right to abortion, would you consider that judicial activism, legislating from the bench?

Braun: I consider it to have been judicial activism when it occurred back almost 50 years ago. So I think this would be bringing it back to a neutral point to where that issue should have never been federalized, way out of sync I think with the contour of America then. This puts it back to a point where, like most of these issues, where one side of the aisle wants to homogenize it federally, it’s not the right way to do it.

This should be something where the expression of individual states are able to weigh in on these issues through their own legislation, through their own court systems, quit trying to put the federal government in charge of not only things like we did navigating through COVID recently, where I think that was misguided, but in general. So no, I think this takes it back to a point where it should have never gotten beyond in the first place.

Reporter: Would that same basis [apply] to something like Loving v. Virginia, the Supreme Court case that legalized interracial marriage?

Braun: When it comes to issues, you can’t have it both ways. When you want that diversity to shine within our federal system, there are going to be rules, and proceedings, that are going to be out of sync with maybe what other states would do. That’s the beauty of the system. And that’s where the differences among points of view in our 50 states ought to express themselves. And I’m not saying that rule would apply in general, depending on the topic, but it should mostly be in general, because it’s hard to have it on issues that you are just are interested in when you deny it for others with a different point of view.

Reporter: So you would be OK with the Supreme Court leaving the question of interracial marriage to the states?

Braun: Yes. I think that that’s something that 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.

Reporter: What about Griswold v. Connecticut?

Braun: You can list a whole bunch of issues, when it comes down to whatever they are. I’m going to say that they’re not all going to make you happy within a given state, but we’re better off states manifest their points of view rather than homogenizing it across the country as Roe v. Wade did.