Donald Trump: ‘I’m For Traditional Marriage’

With little sense that he appreciated the irony, Donald Trump told Jake Tapper this morning that he supports “traditional marriage”:

GOP presidential hopeful Donald Trump said in an interview broadcast Sunday that he opposes gay marriage, and defended his own history of having been divorced twice.

On CNN’s “State of the Union,” host Jake Tapper asked Trump to follow up on his 2013 comment that his views on same-sex marriage are “evolving.”

“I’m for traditional marriage,” Trump told Tapper, adding that the opinions surround the issue are “changing rapidly.”

Although Trump’s interview aired two days after the Supreme Court declared that same-sex marriage is legal in every state, it was recorded before that decision.

Trump later declared that he disagreed with the court, adding that states should be allowed to decide whether same-sex marriage is legal.

Tapper pressed Trump on his own marital history, asking how he would respond if a gay or lesbian person asked “what’s traditional about being married three times.”

“They have a very good point,” Trump responded. He went on to defend his behavior in his previous marriages with Ivana Trump and Marla Maples. “I blame myself because my business was so powerful to me,” he said.

I suppose Trump could be being completely honest here and that, to him, “Traditional Marriage” means a man, a woman, the man’s mistress, and the thing living on the man’s head.

FILED UNDER: 2016 Election, US Politics, , , , ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. KM says:

    He believes in traditional marriage, alright – marriage as a property/business deal. And like all his deals, he runs them into the ground then goes forth to find a new sucker wife, never learning his lesson and realizing how terrible he is at it.

    Tradition!!

  2. ernieyeball says:

    And who does Mama teach to mend and tend and fix,
    Preparing me to marry whoever Papa picks?

    The daughter, the daughter! Tradition!
    The daughter, the daughter! Tradition!

  3. stonetools says:

    If you think of traditional marriage in the Biblical sense of multiple wives and concubines, then yes, Trump is in favor of traditional marriage.Compared to say, David or Solomon, Trump is indeed, rather restrained.

  4. M. Bouffant says:

    Is it a requirement that every & every Republican candidate be the most baldfaced hypocrite possible?

    Or is the 2016 Republican platform just going to be “Do as I tell you, not as I do”?

  5. murray says:

    As per usual come presidential election time, The Donald says nonsense to grab headlines. And it works.

  6. Gustopher says:

    Is Bristol Palin too young for Donald Trump? And is he too old for her?

    I think we might have a match made in, well, not heaven… Anyway, these two have to meet socially.

  7. anjin-san says:

    Ah, so traditional marriage is a wealthy man getting married, then dumping his wife every decade or so for a younger, hotter new wife?

  8. grumpy realist says:

    I suppose Trump could be being completely honest here and that, to him, “Traditional Marriage” means a man, a woman, the man’s mistress, and the thing living on the man’s head.

    Doug, when you call ’em, you REALLY call them!

    Two thumbs up.

  9. Pinky says:

    “I blame myself because my business was so powerful to me,”

    Did he just brag about his business skills as an answer to why he’s been married three times? Extraordinary.

  10. Franklin says:

    Shocked by Trump’s response. There was *almost* a hint of humility in there.

  11. Tyrell says:

    Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders is surging, picking up more interest, and getting more attention. He is concentrating on the middle class voter, who has been forgotten by Hillary.

  12. Hal_10000 says:

    Donald Trump’s campaign: it’s like Fox News and American Idol had an angry baby.

  13. Pinky says:

    Given two reasonable options, I will always vote for the candidate who hasn’t been divorced.

  14. ernieyeball says:

    @Pinky:..I will always vote for the candidate who hasn’t been divorced.

    This is a fascinating approach to selecting the dog catcher Pink.
    What do you do if none of the candidates for an office have never been married?

  15. Pinky says:

    @ernieyeball:

    What do you do if none of the candidates for an office have never been married?

    Given two reasonable options, I will always vote for the candidate who hasn’t been divorced. Does that answer your question?

  16. ernieyeball says:

    @Pinky:..Does that answer your question?

    Well, yes it does since I screwed up and inadvertently went with the double negative.
    Allow me to correct the question.

    What do you do if all of the candidates for an office have never been married?

  17. ernieyeball says:

    Not like I’ll be running for dog catcher anytime soon but since I am divorced how does that make me a less qualified candidate than someone who is still on their first marriage?
    Seems to me that I’d have more time to devote to getting cats out of trees being free of all the spousal obligations that are contracted with the wedding vows.

  18. grumpy realist says:
  19. Pinky says:

    @ernieyeball: I don’t know how else to say it: all other things being equal, or close to equal, I’m going to support the candidate who shows personal character.

    Let’s face it, Trump isn’t going to win, and it’s not because of the positions he’s parroting (or even parodying) because he thinks they’ll help him. It’s because he has a defect in his character. And one of the things that shows his character problem is his marital history. I know that some decent people have been divorced, and some bad people haven’t been, but of all places to make a “personal character doesn’t matter” type argument, the worst would be on a Trump / Traditional Marriage thread. He’s the best example I’ve ever seen of how a person’s private failings can parallel his public failings.

  20. ernieyeball says:

    @Pinky:..but of all places to make a “personal character doesn’t matter” type argument,..

    Don’t know who is making that argument. Certainly not me.
    I am divorced and I figure I have as much “personal character” as Ronald Raygun or Brush Lintoff. Take your pick.

  21. Pinky says:

    @ernieyeball: Couldn’t figure out the second one.

  22. Tyrell says:

    @grumpy realist: NBC is too stupid to keep around. This once proud, respected, influential, and professional.network has long since dropped any pretense of being objective and reporting news. They have sunk below the level pf Springer. At least he does not pretend to be anything else.
    David Brinkley would be aghast.

  23. Pinky says:

    @ernieyeball: Anyway, what argument are you making?

  24. ernieyeball says:

    @Pinky:..Given two reasonable options, I will always vote for the candidate who hasn’t been divorced…all other things being equal, or close to equal, I’m going to support the candidate who shows personal character.

    I am defending myself against your patently scurrilous assertion that since I am divorced my “personal character” is somehow diminished.
    Where do you get off casting aspersions on my integrity because I am divorced?

  25. Tony W says:

    @ernieyeball: Gotta go with Ernie here – people get into bad marriages often through no fault of their own. Back in 1953 we used to deem those folks “lower personal character” but we’ve come to realize that things are more complicated than that. If you leave your spouse because they have been cheating on you, for example, how is that indication of your tarnished character?

  26. Pinky says:

    Not every single person who has been divorced has weak character, and not every single person who hasn’t been divorced has strong character. It’s merely an indication. Look at Trump: exactly what is wrong with his character shows up in his marriages. He’s an image-obsessed egomaniac. I have no idea about Ernie’s character other than what he’s demonstrated here.

  27. ernieyeball says:

    Not every single person who has been divorced has weak character,..I have no idea about Ernie’s character other than what he’s demonstrated here.

    I am at once relieved and yet troubled that my temperament may not facilitate the utopian ideals Pinky has set for us all.