Trump on Kim Davis: I Believe ‘Both Sides of the Picture’

On Friday, Donald Trump said he believed “both sides of the picture,” regarding the jailing of Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis, who went to jail for refusing to issue same-sex licenses from her office. Interviewed on Morning Joe, Trump stated that because same-sex marriage is “the law of the land,” Davis’s actions and subsequent arrest painted “a very, very sticky situation,” adding, “I’m a believer on both sides of the picture.”

Trump said that given Davis’s beliefs, she could have permitted her deputies to issue the licenses, which she refused to do. Davis’ attorneys said she will not authorize any of her employees to issue licenses while she is in jail.

Trump asserted that same-sex couples could simply visit another location to gain a marriage license, adding, “They have many other places where you get licensed, and you have them actually, quite nearby.”

The 2016 GOP presidential frontrunner said, “I hate to 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 host Joe Scarborough asked Trump if clerks should issue gay marriage licenses because the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage, Trump said, “You have to go with it. The decision has been made, and that is the law of the land.”

Davis has decided she answers to a higher law, telling The Kentucky Trial Court Review:

I’ve weighed the cost and I’m prepared to go to jail, I sure am. This has never been a gay or lesbian issue for me. This is about upholding the word of God.This is a heaven or hell issue for me and for every other Christian that believes. This is a fight worth fighting. I would have to either make a decision to stand or I would have to buckle down and leave,” she said, pondering her choices. And if I left, resigned or chose to retire, I would have no voice for God’s word … I’m just a vessel God has chosen for this time and this place. I’m no different than any other Christian. It was my appointed time to stand, and their time will come.