White House: No Comment on Washington Marriage, Christie Veto

White House press secretary Jay Carney dodged comment on this week’s marriage equality victory in Washington as President Obama was scheduled to visit the state for a Friday tour at Boeing Co., where he spoke about measures to boost American exports.

Speaking with reporters aboard Air Force One, Carney also declined direct comment on New Jersey governor Chris Christie’s vowed veto of a marriage equality bill passed by the state Assembly Thursday. Lawmakers have nearly two years to override a veto.

“I would say only broadly, as I have said in the past, without weighing into individual states and their actions, that this president strongly supports the notion that the states should be able to decide this issue, and he opposes actions that take away rights that have been established by those states,” Carney said Friday.

Speaking with The Advocate earlier this week, Washington governor Chris Gregoire, who signed a marriage equality bill into law Monday, said she had not heard from President Obama or White House officials. “I know he’s on his own personal journey, and I respect that, as I’ve been on mine,” Gregoire said of the president. “But I will say that I feel better today than I have for the last seven years in office with the culmination of my journey and seeing what we were able to do.”

http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2012/02/17/White_House_No_Comment_on_Washington_Marriage_Christie_Veto/