Tammy Baldwin chastises Marco Rubio for calling same-sex marriage vote ‘stupid’

Sen. Tammy Baldwin confronted Marco Rubio in an elevator after he said the vote on the same-sex marriage bill was a “stupid waste of time.”

Rubio, a Republican senator from Florida, made the comments within earshot of Baldwin the first gay politician elected to the US Senate. The Senate will consider a bill to codify same-sex marriage as it could be threatened by the Supreme Court, which recently canceled the right to abortion in June.

Baldwin said CNN she explained to Rubio how wrong his remark was as they rode the elevator together.

“You’d probably love to be in an elevator to see the exchange afterward,” Baldwin said. CNN a journalist.

She continued: “I said that ‘a recent Supreme Court decision has undermined the constitutional right to privacy.’ There are a whole bunch of cases that have been decided on the basis of the constitutional right to privacy that is at stake,” with which he disagrees.

“Anyway, I said we’d talk again.”

Baldwin declined to discuss what Rubio’s response was, but she calmly said she would be “counting the votes” if the bill eventually comes up in the Senate. She believed 10 Republicans would join Democrats to overcome the filibuster and pass the defense.

House of Representatives approved the Law on Respect for Marriagewhich provides legal protections for same-sex and interracial marriage, by a vote of 267 to 157 on Tuesday (July 19).

Surprisingly, 47 House Republicans joined all 220 Democrats in pushing the bill through the chamber. The act now moves to the Senate, where it faces an uncertain future.

Senate the filibuster rule allows lawmakers to block or slow down the passage of a law. The bill needs to clear the 60-vote threshold to overcome a filibuster in the Senate, which is split 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats.

Filibuster so far prevented the passage of the Equality Act, which would revolutionize LGBTQ+ rights in the US. The landmark legislation passed the House of Representatives in February 2021, but has since stalled in the Senate.

Some Republicans, like Rubio, have argued that the Respect for Marriage Act is there “unnecessary” because they realized there was no “threat” to same-sex marriage.

However, the Supreme Court of Justice Clarence Thomas suggested in an opinion that recent Roe v. Wade the decision could open the door to review “all of this court’s substantial due process precedent.” This included legislation to legalize contraceptives, same-sex marriage, and other ordinances.

Rubio told reporters Friday (July 22) that he does not support the Respect for Marriage Act, November 13 informed. He said he doesn’t think politicians should “waste time on non-issues and non-issues” — citing inflation, gas prices, illegal drugs, illegal immigration and other issues as more pressing issues.

“It’s just unreal. It’s a fake issue,” Rubio said. “I don’t vote for fake issues. I don’t vote to solve problems that don’t exist.”

He added: “It’s important that the priorities of the people in Washington are the priorities of the people who sent us there.”

PinkNews reached out to Rubio for comment.