--- title: David Axelrod: Barack Obama Misled Nation On Gay Marriage In 2008 description: A striking admission of political dishonesty from the keeper of the Obama flame canonical: https://time.com/3702584/gay-marriage-axelrod-obama/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-02-10T11:54:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:40:48.373Z article:section: Politics og:title: David Axelrod: Barack Obama Misled Nation On Gay Marriage In 2008 og:description: A striking admission of political dishonesty from the keeper of the Obama flame og:url: https://time.com/3702584/gay-marriage-axelrod-obama/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt889020a66fa75c43/69868b43361760987f90b8c2/david-axelrod-2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: US-POLTICS-Former White House advisor David Axelrod walks into the West Wing of the White House on Nov. 15, 2013 in Washington. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: David Axelrod: Barack Obama Misled Nation On Gay Marriage In 2008 twitter:description: A striking admission of political dishonesty from the keeper of the Obama flame twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt889020a66fa75c43/69868b43361760987f90b8c2/david-axelrod-2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Axelrod: Obama Misled Nation When He Opposed Gay Marriage In 2008 ## Video: Know Right Now: Gay Marriage Continues Despite Alabama Judge's Order [Watch (HLS stream): Know Right Now: Gay Marriage Continues Despite Alabama Judge's Order](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/sIQoOM1I.m3u8) (1:03)  _Published 2015-02-09. Local officials in Alabama began issuing marriage licenses for same-sex couples, after the state's top judge set up a high-stakes legal showdown_ by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Feb 10, 2015 11:54 AM UTC  Former White House advisor David Axelrod walks into the West Wing of the White House on Nov. 15, 2013 in Washington. Former White House advisor David Axelrod walks into the West Wing of the White House on Nov. 15, 2013 in Washington.Brendan Smialowski—AFP/Getty Images by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Feb 10, 2015 11:54 AM UTC Barack Obama misled Americans for his own political benefit when he claimed in the 2008 election to oppose same sex marriage for religious reasons, his former political strategist David Axelrod writes in a new book, _Believer: My Forty Years in Politics_. “I’m just not very good at bullshitting,” Obama told Axelrod, after an event where he stated his opposition to same-sex marriage, according to the book. Axelrod writes that he knew Obama was in favor of same-sex marriages during the first presidential campaign, even as Obama publicly said he only supported civil unions, not full marriages. Axelrod also admits to counseling Obama to conceal that position for political reasons. “Opposition to gay marriage was particularly strong in the black church, and as he ran for higher office, he grudgingly accepted the counsel of more pragmatic folks like me, and modified his position to support civil unions rather than marriage, which he would term a ‘sacred union,’ ” Axelrod writes. ### Silent No More: Early Days in the Fight for Gay Rights  Caption from LIFE In commemoration of the 1969 Stonewall riots in Greenwich Village, militants this year designated the last week in June as Gay Liberation Week and celebrated with a candlelight parade. The parade involved 300 male and female homosexuals, who marched without incident two miles from Gay Activists headquarters to a park near City Hall. Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE When a bill guaranteeing equal job opportunities for homosexuals stalled in New York City Council last spring, militants demonstrated at City Hall. With fists raised, they shout a football style "Gay Power" cheer at police blocking the building. Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Gay rights protest, 1971. Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE A homosexual activist steps between a pair of police horses to be interviewed during a New York demonstration. Militants often charge police brutality and welcome arrest for the sake of publicity. They also encourage press coverage of their protest actions. Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Gay rights protest, 1971. Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Gay rights protest, California, 1971. Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Gay rights protest, New York, 1971. Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE Collared by a patrolman after he deliberately crossed police barricades at New York's City Hall, Gay Activists Alliance President Jim Owles submits to arrest. Members of his organization were protesting City Council reluctance to debate a fair employment bill for homosexuals. Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Gay rights protest, New York, 1971. Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Gay rights protest, New York, 1971. Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Gay rights protest, New York, 1971. Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Gay Pride, 1971. Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Gay Activists Alliance, New York, 1971. Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Gay rights rally, 1971. Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Gay rights event, 1971. Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images The insider’s account provides the clearest look yet at Obama’s long-established flip-flop, one of the blemishes on his record as a progressive. The admission of Obama’s embrace of deception also calls into question the President’s stated embrace of a new kind of politics in 2008, when he promised to be unlike other politicians who change their views to match the political winds. “Having prided himself on forthrightness, though, Obama never felt comfortable with his compromise and, no doubt, compromised position,” Axelrod writes. “He routinely stumbled over the question when it came up in debates or interviews.” As a state senate candidate in 1996, Obama filled out a [questionnaire](http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0109/Obama%5Fbacked%5Fsamesex%5Fmarriage%5Fin%5F1996.html) saying “I favor legalizing same-sex marriages, and would fight efforts to prohibit such marriages.” But 12 years later as a candidate for president, Obama told Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church that marriage could only extend to heterosexual couples. “I believe that marriage is the union between a man and a woman,” Obama [said](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJhQBZ1La0w) at the time. “Now, for me as a Christian — for me — for me as a Christian, it is also a sacred union. God’s in the mix.” After two years in office, Obama began telling reporters he was “evolving” on the issue, and supported the repeal of the Clinton-era Defense of Marriage Act. But Obama didn’t publicly support same-sex marriages as president until Vice President Joe Biden got out ahead of him in an interview with Meet the Press, saying he was “absolutely comfortable” with the unions. In Axelrod’s account, Obama was “fully evolved” more than five months before, telling his aides to find a way for him to speak on the issue, even as campaign manager Jim Messina warned him it could cost the state of North Carolina. --- > “” --- Axelrod’s new book goes on sale February 10. _Read next:_ [_Three Big Questions About Obama’s Military Force Request_](http://time.com/3701556/obama-aumf-isis/?xid=time%5Freadnext) [_Listen to the most important stories of the day._](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/?sl%5Fautoplay=true&xid=spl-fullbrief-article) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3702584/gay-marriage-axelrod-obama/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3702584/gay-marriage-axelrod-obama/"},"headline":"Axelrod: Obama Misled Nation When He Opposed Gay Marriage In 2008","datePublished":"2015-02-10T11:54:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:40:48.373Z","description":"A striking admission of political dishonesty from the keeper of the Obama flame","url":"https://time.com/3702584/gay-marriage-axelrod-obama/","keywords":["White House","Gay Marriage","Barack Obama"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt889020a66fa75c43/69868b43361760987f90b8c2/david-axelrod-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Zeke Miller","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt889020a66fa75c43/69868b43361760987f90b8c2/david-axelrod-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-POLTICS-Former White House advisor David Axelrod walks into the West Wing of the White House on Nov. 15, 2013 in Washington.","caption":"Former White House advisor David Axelrod walks into the West Wing of the White House on Nov. 15, 2013 in Washington.","creditText":"Brendan Smialowski—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3702584/gay-marriage-axelrod-obama/","name":"Axelrod: Obama Misled Nation When He Opposed Gay Marriage In 2008"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Know Right Now: Gay Marriage Continues Despite Alabama Judge's Order","description":"Local officials in Alabama began issuing marriage licenses for same-sex couples, after the state's top judge set up a high-stakes legal showdown","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/sIQoOM1I/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-02-09T17:51:45.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/sIQoOM1I.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3702584/gay-marriage-axelrod-obama/","duration":"PT1M3S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3702584/gay-marriage-axelrod-obama/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```