Eric Holcomb’s Painful RFRA Interview: 4 Minutes, 0 Differences from Pence

Eric Holcomb’s Painful RFRA Interview: 4 Minutes, 0 Differences from Pence

Holcomb on Expanding LGBT Civil Rights: ‘I’m not going to focus on that issue’ 

Eric Holcomb had his chance to distance himself from the economic disaster of Mike Pence’s RFRA legacy in Indiana.

Instead, in a painful 4 minute answer to the Indianapolis Star editorial board, Holcomb doubled down on the same discrimination law that risked $250 million for state’s economy, and threw his weight behind Pence’s failed agenda.

Watch Holcomb’s awkward RFRA answers below:

When asked by the Indy Star ed. board about expanding civil rights protections to include LGBT Hoosiers, Holcomb stumbled over himself before refusing to support the measure backed by Indiana’s business community:

“I’m not going to focus on that issue,” Holcomb said of LGBT civil rights expansions supported by groups such as the Indiana Chamber of Commerce. “You can imagine what I hear from folks when I’m out around the state constantly, is a fatigue over focusing on this issue. […] Thankfully the job creators aren’t buying into that,” he continued.

“Anyone wondering how Eric Holcomb would move Indiana past Mike Pence’s disastrous RFRA legacy just got their answer: He wouldn’t,” DGA Communications Director Jared Leopold said. “We now know the cost of Holcomb’s discrimination agenda because we’ve seen it play out under Gov. Pence: Millions in economic fallout, devastating job losses, and widespread national embarrassment. Eric Holcomb is out of step with Indiana’s business community, something the state simply cannot afford. Hoosiers need a governor focused on creating jobs and growing the economy, not doubling down on the failed policies of the past. 

Holcomb may be choosing to ignore the economic fallout associated with discrimination, but according to reports from Fox 59, top Indiana businesses are certainly not:

 “‘This is a financial issue for us,’ Shannon Heider said, director of state government relations for Cummins. […] Heider said the company has lost ‘strong, high performing employees’ who cited a negative perception toward the LGBT community in Indiana, since Gov. Mike Pence signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act into law. 

Holcomb’s refusal to include LGBT Hoosiers as a protected class also puts him odds with more than 500 businesses and 70% of Indiana voters who are calling for full protections for the LGBT community.

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