Scott Perry: I Was “Tricked” Into Voting For Marriage Bill

Via email from hate group leader Tony Perkins:

If the 12 Republican senators who voted for the Democrats’ same-sex marriage bill don’t have buyer’s remorse, they will. Take it from Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.).

Ever since his “yea” vote in July, the House Freedom Caucus chair has been squarely in the blast zone of movement conservatives. Now, as his Senate colleagues flirt dangerously with the same mistake, he has one word for them: Don’t.

Apart from GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), Perry’s betrayal on marriage this summer stung the deepest. As the head of the strongest pro-family bloc in the House, his defection was a shock to everyone — including his own caucus.

Four weeks into the blowback, Perry was put in the embarrassing position of defending his vote, as the Freedom Caucus he led openly lobbied the Senate to reject the radical proposal he supported.

Four months later, Perry’s regret is palpable. Today, instead of joining the rebellion, he’s leading the opposition, pleading with 12 Senate Republicans to learn from his mistake and reverse course.

At the time, Perry said, he was on the phone with his pastor, with the local Catholic priest, and other ministers.

Democrats had given them a false choice: to either vote against natural marriage or vote against interracial marriage — which was the phony messaging they were assigning to the debate, even though the Loving ruling was never in question.

Obviously, he told Perkins, he didn’t want to oppose either. But, as Perry explained, Democrats were trying to paint anyone who objected as a racist.

“I had to vote almost immediately,” he recalled. “And I calculated incorrectly. And maybe that’s the best way to put it — that my long-standing support of traditional marriage would be understood, and I didn’t want to vote against interracial marriage. And that’s the same trick they’re playing now.”

As you’ll see in the clip below, Perry claims that “Democrats are trying to destroy religious liberty.”

Yesterday GOP Sen. Mike Lee told Perkins that there’s still a chance to stop the marriage bill when it returns to the Senate for final votes.

Doing so would require convincing at least three GOP Senators to reverse their initial votes to advance the bill, something Lee admitted is a long shot. Those final votes may happen before the Thanksgiving break.