In David Axelrod's new book, Believer: My Forty Years in Politics, he describes President Obama's flip-flopping in his stance on gay marriage.
Axelrod, a former political strategist to Obama, writes that when Obama stated his opposition to same-sex marriage in 2008, he may have been lying for political gain. Obama apparently told Axelrod, "I'm just not very good at bullshitting," after a 2008 campaign event when he spoke against gay marriage.
According to Axelrod, Obama supported same-sex marriage during his first presidential campaign, but Axelrod advised him not to reveal his stance, because "opposition to gay marriage was particularly strong in the black church." Axelrod adds that Obama was uncomfortable with the political "compromise," and he "routinely stumbled over the question when it came up in debates or interviews."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Time notes that when he ran for state senate in 1996, Obama said he wanted to legalize same-sex marriage, but in 2008, he said that "marriage is the union between a man and a woman" in his opinion "as a Christian."
During Obama's second presidential campaign, he announced his support for gay marriage, saying he had "evolved."
-
Icarus programme – the ‘internet of animals’The Explainer Researchers aim to monitor 100,000 animals worldwide with GPS trackers, using data to understand climate change and help predict disasters and pandemics
-
Experience Tanzania’s untamed wilderness from Lemala’s luxury lodgesThe Week Recommends The vast protected landscapes are transformed into a verdant paradise during ‘emerald season’
-
Crossword: October 9, 2025The Week's daily crossword
-
Bondi stonewalls on Epstein, Comey in Senate face-offSpeed Read Attorney General Pam Bondi denied charges of using the Justice Department in service of Trump’s personal vendettas
-
Court allows Trump’s Texas troops to head to ChicagoSpeed Read Trump is ‘using our service members as pawns in his illegal effort to militarize our nation’s cities,’ said Gov. J.B. Pritzker
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in OregonSpeed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denialSpeed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartelsspeed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feudSpeed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protestersSpeed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US
