Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was asked this morning on MSNBC where he stood on Rowan County, Kentucky, clerk Kim Davis' refusal to issue gay marriage licenses and her subsequent jailing by a judge for contempt of court (video below).
Trump told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program:
I would say the simple answer is 'let her clerks do it.' Now, from what I understand, she's not letting her clerks do it either.
The other simple answer is, rather than going through this, because it's really a very, very sticky situation, a terrible situation, 30 miles away they have other places, they have many other places where you get licensed and you have them actually quite nearby, that's another alternative.
I hate see her being put in jail. I understand what they're doing. It would be certainly nice if she didn't do it, but other people in her office do it, but from what I understand, she won't allow other people in her office to do it.
When pressed by co-host Joe Scarborough, Trump stated, "You have to go with it. I mean, you have to go with it. The decision's been made, and that is the law of the land."
However Davis has become a martyr to some conservatives.
GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has started a "Free Kim Davis" petition on his website.
Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who is also running for president, told CNN: "I think it’s absurd to put someone in jail for exercising their religious liberties," notes Talking Points Memo.
Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, also a presidential candidate, said on his website:
I stand with Kim Davis. Unequivocally. I stand with every American that the Obama Administration is trying to force to choose between honoring his or her faith or complying with a lawless court opinion.
However, the Obama administration had nothing to do with Davis being jailed for contempt of court.