Beto O’Rourke says he’d take away a churches tax-exempt status if they don’t support same-sex marriage
When the former Texas congressman was asked if religious institutions — “colleges, churches, charities” — should be stripped of tax-exempt status Thursday night by CNN anchor Don Lemon during the LGBTQ town hall, he immediately responded, “Yes.”
Beto O’Rourke, the former congressman from Texas and presidential hopeful, infuriated a swath of religious and conservative leaders with his response to a question from CNN’s Don Lemon during a LGBTQ-focused town hall on Thursday night.
Lemon asked O’Rourke if religious institutions — schools, churches, or charities — should lose their tax-exempt status if they oppose same-sex marriage.
The presidential candidate answered “yes” to the applause of a Los Angeles crowd organized by the Human Rights Campaign, the country’s largest LGBTQ equality organization.
“There can be no reward, no benefit, no tax break for anyone or any institution, any organization in America that denies the full human rights and the full civil rights of every single one of us,” O’Rourke said. “And so as president, we’re going to make that a priority and we are going to stop those who are infringing upon the human rights of our fellow Americans.”
Beto O’Rourke says he’d strip churches of tax-exempt status if they don’t support same-sex marriage…
We have a separation of Church and State.
This man has no regard for the Constitution and he is making that clear. pic.twitter.com/cbbtnxgPAP
— ALX 🎃 (@alx) October 12, 2019
Whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat, this statement should bother you deeply. We don’t want a government that punishes disfavored religious beliefs. Beto—everyone’s entitled to a mulligan now and then. Please take one here. https://t.co/nITSQcev6c
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) October 11, 2019
The Catholic Church feeds more hungry people every day in this country than any other institution, including the federal government.
Under Beto’s misguided policy, the Little Sisters of the Poor would lose their tax-exempt status because they oppose same-sex marriage. https://t.co/Wc0XU6M9Ao
— Christopher J. Hale (@chrisjollyhale) October 11, 2019