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Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum once again touted his support for a federal ban on gay marriage, saying on Saturday that any now-legal same-sex marriages would be invalid under a constitutional amendment.
In an interview with NBC's Chuck Todd at his campaign headquarters in Iowa, Santorum said there needs to be one marriage law for all 50 states. When asked if he would make same-sex couples get divorced, he responded, "Well their marriage would be invalid. If the constitution says 'marriage is this,' then people whose marriages are not consistent with the constitution ... (shrug.) I'd love to think that there was another way of doing it."
Santorum said he has hesitations about the Supreme Court taking the decision about marriage away from the people. "32 times marriage has been voted on, in 32 different states from Maine to California, and 32 times marriage has won," he said. But later in the interview Santorum acknowledged that "just because public opinion says something, doesn't mean something's right if it's not right."
Santorum's comments are the latest in his long fight against gay marriage, which he thinks would have dire consequences for American society. Santorum said Saturday that though friendship and familial love are important, "It's not as important for the health of society as men and women coming together, joining together in marriage, having children and raising those children for the future of society."
Last month Santorum blamed same-sex marriage for plummeting rates of marriage across the nation. In November, at an event sponsored by the Christian group the FAMiLY LEADER in Des Moines, Santorum said gay marriage could doom the U.S. "Unless we protect it with the institution of marriage, our country will fail," he said.
Santorum has recently surged to a third place spot in Iowa, just days before the Iowa caucuses.