Jeb Bush Says He’ll Be a ‘Stalwart’ Supporter of Families, Categorically Opposes Same-Sex Marriage

May 19, 2015 02:02 AM EDT

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has made it clear on Saturday that he categorically opposes same-sex marriage and will continue his support for traditional families. He made the comments in comments related to Christian businesses and same-sex weddings.

In an exclusive interview conducted by David Brody of CBN News, the potential presidential candidate stated that traditional marriage was a "sacrament" that must be defended. He argued that there was no constitutional right to same-sex marriage.

"We need to be stalwart supports of traditional marriage," Bush said.

Brody noted that Bush's Catholic faith played a role in his opposition to same-sex marriage.

"I think traditional marriage is a sacrament," Bush said. "It's talking about being formed by one's faith, it's at the core of the Catholic faith and to imagine how we are going to succeed in our country unless we have committed family life, committed child-centered family system is hard to imagine."

Bush added that Christians have to be "stalwart supporters of traditional marriage" regardless of how the Supreme Court rules on the legality of same-sex marriages.

"We have to restore committed, loving family life with a mom and dad loving their children with their heart and soul," Bush said.

Bush thought that the arguments in favor of same-sex marriage have been "accelerated at a warp pace."

"What's interesting is four years ago Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton had the same view that I just expressed to you," Bush said to Brody. "It's thousands of years of culture and history is just being changed at warp speed. It's hard to fathom why it is this way."

Brody then analyzed Bush's statements on same-sex marriage and the Supreme Court. He thought the former Florida governor was "a thinker/public policy wonk."

"From my interactions and conversations with him, I see him as a dedicated Catholic who believes (correctly) that his faith requires compassion for all people," Brody wrote. "His challenge will be to convince socially conservative GOP Primary voters that his compassion doesn't necessarily translate into capitulation, weakness, and a label as the 'squishy moderate.'"

Brody noted that Bush's record as Florida governor "reads like a social conservative's dream scorecard."

"He championed pro-life causes like a late-term abortion ban, parental notification laws, and fought against those who wanted to pull the plug on brain-damaged heroine Terri Schiavo," Brody wrote of Bush. "He also championed school choice and tried to protect prayers at public school events. It's that Jeb Bush that social conservative voters want to see emerge in 2016."

Within the same interview, Brody asked Bush on what he thought of the issue about whether or not Christian businesses should provide services to same-sex weddings. Bush indicated that such business should be given the option not to provide such services "if it's based on a religious belief."

"A big country, a tolerant country ought to be able to figure out the difference between discriminating someone because of their sexual orientation and not forcing someone to participate in a wedding that they find goes against their moral beliefs," Bush said. "We should be able to figure this out. This should not be that complicated gosh it is right now."

According to Brody, Bush made a distinction "between a Christian business owner being forced to provide a service rather than just selling a gay customer a product." However, he thought Bush could run into trouble with social conservatives if he was not careful.

"What they don't want is another politician (Bush or anyone) who is more consultant-driven than principle-driven," Brody wrote.