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Mar 22, 2022 - Politics & Policy

GOP Sen. Mike Braun suggests states should decide interracial marriage law

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Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN) speaks during a Senate Budget Committee hearing in the Hart Senate Office building on February 17, 2022 in Washington, DC.

Sen. Mike Braun in the Hart Senate Office building in February in Washington, D.C. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) suggested Tuesday that the Supreme Court should have left it to states to decide on interracial marriage law instead of legalizing it nationally in 1967. He later clarified he "misunderstood the question."

Driving the news: Braun indicated he was open to rescinding the ruling and others made by justices on the bench over the past 70 years in favor of state legislatures while discussing with reporters Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's nomination to the Supreme Court.

What he's saying: "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. That's hypocritical," Braun said.

  • "Stick with interpreting the law," Braun said. "Don’t legislate from the bench."

Context: Braun was speaking about how he believed the Roe v. Wade ruling to legalize abortion was "judicial activism," when a reporter asked him whether the same applied to Loving v. Virginia, which legalized interracial marriage. "Yes," he replied.

For the record: Braun said in a statement to news outlets Tuesday that he "misunderstood" the reporter's question on interracial marriage and there's "no question the Constitution prohibits discrimination of any kind based on race, that is not something that is even up for debate."

  • He added: "I condemn racism in any form, at all levels and by any states, entities or individuals."
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