Biden 'got out a little bit over his skis' on gay marriage - KMSP-TV

Biden 'got out a little bit over his skis' on gay marriage, Obama says

Source: NewsCore

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama said Vice President Joe Biden "got out a little bit over his skis" when he declared his support for gay marriage, according to new excerpts of the president's interview with ABC released Thursday.

Obama became the first US president to endorse gay marriage Wednesday -- just days after Biden told NBC's "Meet The Press" that he was "absolutely comfortable" with same-sex marriage.

In new excerpts of the president's interview with ABC, Obama said that while he'd intended to announce his support for gay marriage closer to September's Democratic National Convention, the scrutiny that followed Biden's comments prompted him to fast-track those plans.

"I had already made a decision that we were gonna probably take this position before the election and before the convention," Obama told ABC's Robin Roberts in an interview at the White House. "He probably got out a little bit over his skis, but out of generosity of spirit."

But Obama said he was not angry over Biden's comments.

"Would I have preferred to have done this in my own way, in my own terms without, I think, there being a lot of notice to everybody? Sure, but all's well that ends well," Obama said.

The president also said he believed that many who oppose gay marriage are not coming from a "mean-spirited perspective," and he recognized the rights of states to ban gay marriage.

"I continue to believe that this is an issue that is going to be worked out at the local level because historically this has not been a federal issue," Obama said.

"But I think it's important for me to say to them that as much as I respect [those who oppose gay marriage], as much as I understand where they're coming from, when I meet gay and lesbian couples ... for me, I think it just has tipped the scales in that direction."

Still, the Obama campaign released a web video Thursday calling Mitt Romney, his presumptive Republican opponent, "backward on equality."

Romney on Wednesday reaffirmed his belief that "marriage is between a man and a woman."

The former Massachusetts governor has previously said he supports a federal constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.

Obama also said in his ABC interview that his announcement endorsing gay marriage was not politically motivated and that his number one priority remained generating jobs and improving the US economy.

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