GOP contender Jindal backs Ky. clerk, mocks Trump

WASHINGTON (AP) – Bobby Jindal is the latest Republican presidential candidate to support the Kentucky county clerk who was jailed for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

The Louisiana governor says Kim Davis “shouldn’t have to give up her Christian beliefs simply because she’s a clerk of court.”

Jindal’s GOP rivals, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, visited the Rowan (ROW’-uhn) County clerk in jail before a judge released her Tuesday.

At the National Press Club in Washington, Jindal said, “No office holder, no business owner should have to give up their conscience.” Jindal said if he’s elected president, he’ll issue an executive order protecting the religious rights of those who believe marriage is the union of a man and a woman.

Jindal also mocked GOP front-runner Donald Trump’s statement that the Bible is his favorite book, noting that Trump couldn’t name a single Bible verse that was important to him. The Louisiana governor said Trump is an “egomaniacal madman” who has never read the Bible because it’s not about him.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press.