Speech at rally pits Rep. Braun against Holcomb allies on party platform

INDIANAPOLIS – Rep. Braun came out in support of hardline conservatives and against Governor Holcomb when he announced this morning he’d appear at an event in support of the effort to keep discriminatory, anti-marriage equality language in the Indiana GOP platform.

Tonight, Rep. Braun is set to break his week-long silence over the impending GOP floor fight at Saturday’s state convention when he speaks at an Evansville rally to show “support for retaining the 2016 language on marriage in our party platform.” The rally is hosted by the Republican Victory Committee, a group of hardline Republicans formed specifically to fight the effort by Governor Holcomb and his allies to remove discriminatory language from the GOP platform.

The rally is the latest development in a week-long rebellion against Governor Holcomb’s Indiana GOP from hardline conservatives over keeping discriminatory language in its party platform. Wednesday, Indiana Republican Chair Kyle Hupfer told supporters that delegates to Saturday’s GOP convention will vote on whether to keep Pence-era language defining marriage as between a man and a woman in the party’s platform after a controversial draft of it leaked last Friday.

While Rep. Braun’s Mourdock-eseque announcement today to align with the hardline activists and against many party leaders is the first time he’s weighed into the convention fight, it’s in keeping with his history of discriminatory views. Rep. Braun has repeatedly spoken out against marriage equality in recent months. He also played a role in the discriminatory Religious Freedom Restoration Act fiasco that stained Indiana’s reputation, voting for the bill and vocally defending it.

“Rep. Braun’s appearance at tonight’s rally is the latest sign that he’s more than willing to embrace the discriminatory policies of the past and alienate Hoosiers who want to leave the dark stain of RFRA and the Pence era behind,” said Michael Feldman, spokesman for the Indiana Democratic Party. “Standing up against Governor Holcomb and with hardline conservatives to split his party is morally wrong, politically harmful, and can’t help but remind voters of the GOP’s candidate from six years ago.”

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