commentary.
Fox News really does not like New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. The “fair and balanced” news network is so afraid of Christie in the upcoming 2016 GOP presidential primaries that they have begun to blatantly distort or ignore his actual record on same- sex marriage. Yesterday, Fox News attempted to paint Christie as a moderate compromiser.
According to Fox News Sunday Chris Christie did not veto the marriage equality legislation in 2013. That is true – but only “sort of.” Here is the rest of the story that Fox News conveniently ignores. Christie did not veto the marriage equality bill in 2013 because he had already vetoed the same legislation in 2012 – despite widespread public support for the measure in the Garden State. Christie cited his personal opposition to marriage equality and was widely criticized for the suggestion that the issue should be put up for a public vote.
State lawmakers struggled – and were never able to gather enough votes to override that 2012 Christie veto. They still have up until January 2014 to do so – if they wish to try.
New Jersey Superior Court Judge Mary Jacobson ruled on September 27 in Mercer County that the state must allow same- sex couples to marry, The state’s acting attorney general, appealed the lower court decision and warned of “far-reaching implications” if same- sex marriages weren’t delayed until the appeals process was completed at the State Supreme Court. The appeal was under Chris Christie’s advice and consent as governor. The New Jersey Supreme Court refused by a unanimous 7-0 vote the request for any delay in the lower court ruling.
The state (and therefore Christie) finally dropped the appeal effort as there seemed to be no point to continue with the appeal process. Governor Chris Christie reiterated when dropping the appeal though that he “strongly disagrees” with the court’s decision.
After the decision, Christie went so far to oppose marriage equality that he said that even if one of his children turned out to be gay he would love and support them … BUT he would tell them that ‘marriage was only between a man and a women.’
Really? Yes, that is what he said! Out In Jersey magazine has had plenty of reasons to disagree with this governor. Over the years we have always known his views on marriage equality and if this is how he would discuss the issue with his own children we can’t disagree more strongly. He may still have trouble courting social conservatives and the tea party, but his unwillingness to stand in the way of marriage equality legislation is not the reason why.
But don’t attempt to explain the facts to the “fair and balanced” network (FOX News) because they don’t like Chris Christie so much that they can just ignore the facts by mentioning one year – 2013 – and ignoring the 2012 Christie veto. But then again how often is it that facts just get in the way of reporting on television news and website blogs these days.
