The Trump administration seemed at odds with itself after the former vice president of the Kennedy Center claimed he was fired over his Christian beliefs regarding marriage. Floyd Brown, who founded the conservative site The Western Journal, shared that he had been hired just a month ago and had suddenly lost his job. Brown stated he had received an inquiry from CNN about past comments he’d made against gay marriage. According to CNN, part of their investigation involved comments Brown had made about gay staffers within the GOP. “What most people don’t understand is that many of the Republican members have homosexual staff, and the reason that they do is because the homosexuals, usually unlike me, I had two kids at home, I had a wife at home. I had responsibilities at home, and I needed to spend time with my children. And they don’t,” a transcript from CNN stated. “They didn’t. They literally worked for the member 24/7 and then went out to Adams Morgan and had their gay sex, and then came back to work the next day.”

Brown shared his response to the network, which said, “Comments rooted in my personal Christian views, which I have made in the past, have no impact upon my work here at the Kennedy Center nor do they impinge on my interactions with colleagues who do incredible work for the patrons of the Center. As a Christian I am called to work with others of different beliefs and worldviews.” Brown’s statement also added that he was “honored” to work alongside Richard Grenell, who is acting as the Kennedy Center’s interim president and is an open homosexual. “It was truly not my intention to offend anyone with my comments. I have never intended to attack or demean any person in my statements, and have always shared the mission of Jesus, striving to love others unconditionally,” Brown added in his statement to CNN.

Despite the statement, however, he was fired two hours after responding to CNN. CNN also reportedly reached out to Grenell about Brown’s comments. Brown stated his requests for the reason of his dismissal and to meet with Grenell were both denied. “The only explanation is the one given to me at the time of my firing. ‘Floyd, you must recant your belief in traditional marriage and your past statements on the topic, or you will be fired.’ Needless to say, I refused to recant and was shown the door. My beliefs are much more common to Biblical Christianity.” He concluded Grenell had been “intimidated” by the upcoming CNN article and had “preemptively” had Brown fired.

Despite his claims of having met Grenell, a spokesperson for Grenell told The Christian Post that, “Grenell had not met with Brown, did not know him, and was not involved in his hiring.” Brown did not respond to further inquiries about whether he had actually met Grenell or not. The controversy comes after it a Gallup poll found that the support for same-sex marriage had declined amongst Republicans. According to the poll, support for same-sex marriage had dropped amongst Republicans from 55% in 2021 to 41%. Pete Buttigieg, the former Transportation Secretary under the Biden administration, stated he believed Republicans would go after Obergefell, the Supreme Court decision that essentially legalized gay marriage nationwide. “They don’t seem terribly concerned about allowing precedents to stand,” he said. “Even recent precedents, so how can we not be worried about that?”