CNN’s “Piers Morgan Live” viewers were given a preview of the newest incarnation of the network’s long-running debate show, “Crossfire,” which is set to debut in the fall.
The cast debated gay marriage, after Wednesday’s decisions by the Supreme Court on the Defense of Marriage Act and California’s Proposition 8. Host Piers Morgan kicked things off by asking Gingrich if he was “absolutely thrilled” by the ruling.
“Well, I was thrilled that you’re missing the core point that 8 million Californians voted a particular way,” Gingrich said. “Their governor and their attorney general refused to defend them, and as a result, the court didn’t actually decide the substance of the case. David Boies was quite clear. The court said there is nobody here who has standing to defend the case, therefore the case is remitted because of that or remanded because of that. It strikes me that the 8 million people in California have a pretty good reason to be a little more alienated from Washington than they were yesterday.”
Van Jones argued that there are other harmful influences on the institution of marriage than same-sex marriage.
“Well, first of all, I just want to say, as a Christian, if you’re concerned about traditional marriage, Kim Kardashian has done more harm to traditional marriage than any gay person,” Jones said. “The institution of marriage has been falling apart because heterosexuals have been screwing it up. We’re the ones getting divorced. We’re the ones cheating. We’re the ones who are shacking up. The people who brought the dignity and the honor back to the institution are the lesbian and gay community. And the problem that we have now is, just because you put something on the ballot, if you had put on the ballot civil rights in 1950, we wouldn’t have them. The court has a job to do to protect people. I’m glad they did the job.”
S.E. Cupp explained that even as a conservative, she is a supporter of gay rights, and she said she viewed Wednesday’s court ruling as a win for states’ rights and federalism.
“Well, when it comes to Prop 8, I agree with Newt. It’s a rejection of the voices of the people, and that is — that’s a shame,” Cupp said. “I am a conservative who happens to support gay rights. I’m a conservative who supports marriage. I’m a conservative who supports gay marriage. So on DOMA I think there was a victory, but to me the significant ruling in DOMA wasn’t just that the federal government has to acknowledge the right of gay people to marry but that the federal government has to acknowledge the right of the states. As a small government conservative who supports federalism, I think this was a huge victory for federalism.”
Rounding out the foursome was former Obama campaign adviser Stephanie Cutter, who applauded the decision on policy and legal grounds.
“You know, I don’t think it’s a surprise where I stand,” Cutter added. “I am very happy about the Supreme Court’s decision today on DOMA. A lot of us have been against DOMA for a long time, have been fighting to overturn it. In terms of the decision on California, you know, yes, eight million people voted for a ballot initiative. But as Van said, people have voted before, and they’ve been wrong. That’s why we have checks and balances in our government. We have three branches of government, and the courts performed a check on the people and vice versa. And I think that today, you know, there was a check on ensuring that people have equality in California.”