Days before this past week’s Republican debate, two GOP presidential candidates took their cases directly to evangelical leaders. At a conference of Southern Baptist pastors in Nashville, Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio spoke about how faith influences their politics. Rubio’s comments were in a pre-recorded conversation. In a live discussion with Southern Baptist leader Russell Moore, Bush covered many topics, including the Supreme Court’s June decision to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide. Bush said those who disagree with the ruling should not be marginalized:
Jeb Bush: “We don’t want to create an environment of discrimination against people based on sexual orientation, but we certainly don’t want to discriminate against people that believe that their faith drives their actions and the things that they consider to be important.”
Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton declined an invitation to speak at the event.