WASHINGTON -- Republican presidential candidate and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker told CNN’s “State of the Union” that he “doesn’t know” whether being gay is a choice or if people are born gay.
Walker, the front-runner in polls of the Iowa caucus, made this declaration amid questions from CNN’s Dana Bash about his prior statement on the Boy Scouts’ ban on gay leaders.
On Tuesday, Walker was reported to have said that the ban “protected children and advanced Scout values.” He tried to clarify those remarks on Wednesday by stating that he thought the policy protected children from engaging in the political debate over gay rights.
He reiterated his clarification on Sunday, but then dodged a question about whether he had an opinion of the ban, which led to Bash asking him whether he thought being gay was a choice.
Walker first rambled about the question not being “an issue for me to be involved in,” before stating that he did not “have an opinion on every single issue out there.” He then stated that he did not know.
Bash: Do you think that being gay is a choice?
Walker: Oh, I mean I think -- that’s not even an issue for me to be involved in. The bottom line is, I’m going to stand up and work hard for every American regardless of who they are, no matter where they come from, no matter what their background. I’m going to fight for people whether they vote for me or not.
Bash: On behalf of people to do that properly you have to understand or at least have an opinion on who they are and where they’re coming from.
Walker: But again, I think -- no, I don’t have an opinion on every single issue out there. I mean to me that’s -- I don’t know. I don’t know the answer to that question. So, I’m saying I don’t know what the answer to that is. And I’m going to spend my time focused on things that I do know and I can work on.