Would Greg Abbott Defend Interracial Marriage Ban?

Would Greg Abbott Defend Interracial Marriage Ban?

News just broke that in an interview with the San Antonio Express-News Attorney General Greg Abbott refused to answer whether he would defend an interracial marriage ban. For Abbott, who is fighting in court to deny LGBT Texans the freedom to marry and who recently lost a case defending a law that a judge ruled intentionally discriminated against African American and Hispanics, this is just another example showing just how out-of-touch and backwards he is.

It didn't take Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott any time at all to decide that not answering that question was the best course during a meeting with the San Antonio Express-News Editorial Board.

“Right now, if there was a ban on interracial marriage, that's already been ruled unconstitutional,” Abbott pointed out. “And all I can do is deal with the issues that are before me ... The job of an attorney general is to represent and defend in court the laws of their client, which is the state Legislature, unless and until a court strikes it down.”

When [Peggy Fikac, the reporter] said [she] wasn't clear if he was saying he would have defended a ban on interracial marriage, he said, “Actually, the reason why you're uncertain about it is because I didn't answer the question. And I can't go back and answer some hypothetical question like that."

Wrong, Greg Abbott. You can and should answer a question like that. The answer Texans deserve to hear from a man that is running to be their Governor is a definitive: “No, I would not.”

Greg Abbott's abhorrent non-answer should come as no surprise, however, as he is currently leading the charge to defend Texas’ ban on same-sex marriage.

Last weekend, a Dallas Morning News editorial surmised that Abbott would be able to stand up to extreme wings of his own party. It didn't take him long to prove why that newspaper is wrong.