R197 "Trump went into office supporting gay marriage."
You're such a fucking liar.
Same-sex marriage
In 2000, Trump stated his belief that "marriage is between a man and a woman."[127] Despite this, as a candidate running in the Reform Party in 1999–2000, Trump included support for civil unions in his campaign platform.[148] Trump congratulated singer Elton John on his civil partnership to his same-sex partner in 2005,[149] writing, "It's a marriage that's going to work ... If two people dig each other, they dig each other."[150] Trump did not indicate whether he had changed his political position on marriage or civil unions.
In early 2011, Trump told Greta Van Susteren on Fox News, "I'm probably as conservative as anybody on your show ... I'm Republican, a very conservative Republican ... I'm not in favor of gay marriage."[151] A month later, when asked by the Des Moines Register if gay couples should receive the same benefits as married couples, he said his "attitude on it has not been fully formed" but then responded simply "no."[152][153]
At the beginning of his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump continued to oppose same-sex marriage. In June 2015, when asked about the Obergefell v. Hodges ruling in which the Supreme Court guaranteed the right to same-sex marriage nationwide, he said he personally supported "traditional marriage".[3][154] He added: "I would have preferred states, you know, making the decision...But they [the Supreme Court] made the decision ... So, at a certain point you have to be realistic about it."[155]
In January 2016, when asked about the landmark Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges which had legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, Trump said he would "strongly consider" appointing conservative Supreme Court justices who would overturn the ruling, arguing that it was a matter that should be left for states to decide instead. [156][157][4][158][159][160] The Advocate, an American LGBT-interest magazine, characterized Trump's proposed Supreme Court nominees as "LGBT-unfriendly", noting that "not all have ruled in LGBT rights cases, but those who have are largely unsympathetic, and some have the backing of anti-LGBT activists."[161] A month before the election, Trump wrote to the president of CatholicVote.org to express support for legislation that would protect the religious liberty of Christians who oppose marriage equality.[162]
However, in November 2016, a few days after he was elected president, Trump suggested that he did not, after all, plan to nominate justices who would overturn the Obergefell ruling. He told Lesley Stahl on 60 Minutes his personal view on same-sex marriage was "irrelevant," that he was "fine with" same-sex marriage, and that the Obergefell decision had "settled" the matter[157][163] (though some expressed skepticism that he had really changed his position).[164]
In 2019, his counselor and spokeswoman Kellyanne Conway claimed that he approves of same-sex marriage.[165]