Sen. Tammy Baldwin, who is gay, says she confronted Marco Rubio in an elevator after he said a same-sex marriage vote was a 'stupid waste of time'

Natalie Musumeci
Fri, July 22, 2022 

Sen. Marco Rubio called a vote on a bill to codify same-sex marriage into federal law a "stupid waste of time," CNN reported.

He made the comments in front of openly gay Democratic Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin.

Baldwin told CNN that she confronted Rubio in an elevator over his remarks.

Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida called a vote on a bill to codify same-sex marriage into federal law a "stupid waste of time" in front of openly gay Democratic Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin — who said she then confronted Rubio about his remarks.

Rubio made the comments to CNN as he was walking onto an elevator and Baldwin overheard him, according to the news outlet.

"You probably would have loved to be on the elevator to see the exchange after," Baldwin told CNN on Thursday, explaining that she confronted Rubio about what he said.

Baldwin said that she told Rubio that "'the recent Supreme Court decision eroded a constitutional right to privacy. There's a whole bunch of cases that have been decided based on a constitutional right to privacy that are in jeopardy,' which he disagrees with. 

The Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision on June 24, ending the nationwide right to an abortion.

The Wisconsin senator would not say what Rubio said in response to her and she wouldn't reveal whether she was insulted by Rubio's comment, according to CNN.

"We're not going to get into [that]," Baldwin told CNN. "I'm counting votes."

Representatives for Baldwin did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Insider on Friday.

When reached on Friday, a spokesman for Rubio refused to comment and instead pointed to remarks that Rubio made to Insider on Wednesday.

Rubio previously told Insider's Bryan Metzger that he would not vote to enshrine protections for same-sex marriage at the federal level, calling the bill a "waste of our time on a non-issue."

The push to codify same-sex marriage into federal law comes after the Supreme Court last month overturned the 1973 landmark Roe v. Wade ruling that granted the constitutional right to abortion.

The House of Representatives this week voted to pass the Respect for Marriage Act, which would codify same-sex marriage into law.

The bill passed by a vote of 267 to 157, with 47 Republicans voting in favor. It now heads to the Senate where its fate remains unclear, though Democratic senators remain optimistic that they can find 10 GOP senators to override a potential filibuster and pass the bill.