Biden retells story about high school ‘epiphany’ on gay marriage
President Biden told the story to Kal Penn on 'The Daily Show.'
President Biden was mocked on Twitter after retelling a story about coming to an "epiphany" on gay marriage in high school despite his long public stance against federal protections for same-sex nuptials.
On Monday, Biden sat down with Kal Penn on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" to discuss the president's recent success in passing the Respect for Marriage Act, a law that intends to keep gay and interracial marriage legal should the U.S. Supreme Court reverse previous decisions.
At one point, Penn asked Biden to detail his own personal "evolution" on same-sex marriage and what he can do to protect LGBTQ Americans and transgender kids from "regressive" laws.
"I can remember exactly when my epiphany was," Biden began. "I hadn't thought about it much, to tell you the truth. I was a senior in high school and my dad was dropping me off. I remember about to get out of the car, and I looked to my right and two well-dressed men in suits kissed each other."
According to Biden, he turned to his father, who said, "Joey, it's simple. They love each other."
Biden, during the interview, agreed with his father's words and asserted that he was not joking about the story.
"It doesn't matter whether it's same-sex or heterosexual couple. They should be able to be married. What is the problem?" he said.
Twitter users quickly jumped on the president, casting doubt on the story's authenticity and recalling Biden's lengthy political history of opposition toward same-sex marriage.
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The Dispatch editor-in-chief Jonah Goldberg tweeted, "So he's basically admitting he lied about a moral conviction for the next five decades? How heroic. Also, the idea that he was thinking about gay marriage in 1960-61 is really just silly."
"Joe Biden has never let the truth get in the way of a good story," GOP political director Elliot Echols said, linking to a video compilation of past comments made by Biden.
Mark Hemingway, a senior writer at RealClearInvestigations, noted that Biden voted for the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in 1996, a law that prevented same-sex couples from receiving the same benefits as other married couples under federal law.
"Remember when the media made a big production of being incensed by all of Trump's lies? I’m beginning to think that was insincere…" Hemingway tweeted.
Author AG Hamilton also pointed out Biden's vote for DOMA, writing, "It will never not be weird that Biden simply lies about stuff like this constantly."
Other Twitter users also piled on Biden for the story.
In a 2006 "Meet the Press" interview, Biden grumbled over Senate debates on the possibility of a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage after he and other Democrats already supported DOMA.
"We've all voted, I've voted and others have said, ‘Look, marriage is between a man and a woman and states must respect that.’ Nobody's violated that law. There's been no challenge to that law. Why do we need a constitutional amendment? Marriage is between a man and a woman. What's the game going on here?" Biden said at the time.
During the 2008 vice presidential debates, Biden was asked point-blank if he supported gay marriage.
"No," Biden said. "Barack Obama and I support redefining from a civil side what constitutes marriage. We do not support that."
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Later that year, Biden said his position on the issue was "evolving" while sitting down for an interview with "Good Morning America."
Four years later, Biden finally endorsed same-sex marriage on May 6, 2012, on NBC News' "Meet the Press."