Congressman Scott Perry, who is the chair of the House Freedom Caucus, has publicly admitted his vote on the Respect for Marriage Act was a mistake. Perry has been blasted by conservatives since his vote in favor of the radical legislation.
Perry’s defection was a shock to nearly everyone. As chair of the House Freedom Caucus, Perry was expected to represent the strongest pro-family bloc in the House.
Just a month after his vote, Perry was openly lobbying Senators to reject the same proposal he supported.
Perry told The Washington Stand the bill did not go through committee in the House and instead went directly to the floor.
“We didn’t have a lot of information on it when they were calling for the vote,” he said.
According to Perry, Democrats presented a false choice — either vote against natural marriage or vote against interracial marriage.
“I had to vote almost immediately,” he said. “And I calculated incorrectly. And maybe that’s the best way to put it — that my long-standing support of traditional marriage would be understood, and I didn’t want to vote against interracial marriage. And that’s the same trick they’re playing now.”
Perry said the bill “actually destroys religious freedom and the ability to enforce religious freedom.”
“And that’s why they’re doing this,” he said. “Anything less than the Mike Lee amendment is going to be unacceptable. So if the Democrats don’t allow that amendment to be in order and for that amendment to pass, they absolutely must vote no.”
