McGuire previously said the reason for his disturbing vote (he was the only member of the State Senate, Republican or Democrat, to vote no) was that “we need more families” and that “if a young man and a young girl get pregnant, they need to have a marriage” (yes, really).
Now, in a new interview with WWBT this week, McGuire claims he voted against outlawing child marriage “because you can join the United States military, go overseas and die, but you can’t marry your fiance who might get your benefits back home if she’s pregnant.”
HUH?!?
WWBT: “Perriello has a number of ads out right now…. But one in particular, he calls into question your State Senate vote over raising the marriage age in Virginia. Talk to me about your vote on that. You were the only Republican in the state senate who did that…”
MCGUIRE: “The reason we voted no is because you can join the United States military, go overseas and die, but you can’t marry your fiance who might get your benefits back home if she’s pregnant. So I asked for that exception.
“The Democrats said no, and imagine that, you can die for your country at 17, but you can’t marry your fiance and she get your benefits. I asked for an exception. They didn’t do it. There’s already protections. He’s using hyperbole, and he’s exaggerating.”
DCCC Spokesperson Eli Cousin:
“John McGuire keeps making up different reasons to try and explain away the fact that he voted in favor of allowing grown men to marry children, and each explanation is somehow worse than the last. Virginians should vote this creep out of office.”
