Pelosi: Rubio’s Comments on Gays And Christianity ‘Completely Wrong’

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. reflects on the Supreme Court decision upholding the Affordable Care Act, during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, June 28, 2012. Pelosi, the form... House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. reflects on the Supreme Court decision upholding the Affordable Care Act, during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, June 28, 2012. Pelosi, the former speaker of the House, was instrumental in helping to pass health care reform in Congress and was at President Obama's side when he signed it into law. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) MORE LESS
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House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) wouldn’t have the backing of the Pope to support his claim that advocating for same-sex marriage will turn into a full-on assault on the Catholic Church’s teachings.

Pelosi, in an interview with MSNBC on Friday, called Rubio “completely wrong” when the Florida senator and 2016 candidate said Tuesday, “We are at the water’s edge of the argument that mainstream Christian teaching is hate speech.” Rubio went on to say, “If you do not support same-sex marriage, you are labeled a homophobe and a hater.”

In response, Pelosi, who is Catholic, didn’t hold back.

“I think that this statement by Sen. Rubio is most unfortunate. It’s a polarizing statement. The fact is that what we were taught is to respect people in our faith,” Pelosi said in an interview with MSNBC’s Thomas Roberts. “And to say that this endangers mainstream Christian thinking is so completely wrong.”

Pelosi added that the comment was divisive.

“And again it’s polarizing and I would hope that –perhaps he believes what he says and I assume that he does. But I hope that we can persuade him differently,” Pelosi continued. “Because the country is going a completely different direction now. It’s very, very exciting. I don’t even think that Pope Francis would subscribe to what Marco Rubio just said.”

Issues related to gay rights, particularly gay marriage, have dogged 2016 candidates throughout the early months of the presidential cycle. Rubio recently said he defines marriage as between a man and a woman but also said he would attend a lesbian or gay wedding if it involved someone close to him.

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