Carly Fiorina's Advice for Kentucky Clerk Who Refuses to Issue Same-Sex Marriage Licenses

Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina was asked by talk-radio host Hugh Hewitt Tuesday for her take on the Kentucky clerk who refuses to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

"What would your advice be to her?" Hewitt asked the former Hewlett-Packard CEO.

"First, I think that we must protect religious liberties with great passion and be willing to expend a lot of political capital to do so now because it’s clear religious liberty is under assault in many, many ways," she said. "Having said that, when you are a government employee, I think you take on a different role. When you are a government employee as opposed to say, an employee of another kind of organization, then in essence, you are agreeing to act as an arm of the government."

"And, while I disagree with this court’s decision, their actions are clear. And so I think in this particular case. This woman now needs to make a decision that’s conscious — is she prepared to continue to work for the government, be paid for by the government in which case she needs to execute the government’s will, or does she feel so strongly about this that she wants to sever her employment with the government and go seek employment elsewhere where her religious liberties would be paramount over her duties as as government employee," Fiorina continued.

Hewitt then asked whether she would advise the clerk continue practicing civil disobedience.

"Given the role that she’s playing. Given the fact that the government is paying her salary, I think that is not appropriate," she answered. "Now that’s my personal opinion. Others may disagree with that, but I think it’s a very different situation for her than someone in a hospital who’s asked to perform an abortion or someone at a florist who’s asked to serve a gay wedding. I think when you’re a government employee, you are put into a different position honestly."

Tense video captured Rowan County clerk Kim Davis on Tuesday again refuse to issue a same-sex marriage license, despite a court order. A district court could hold her in contempt resulting in legal fines or jail time.

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