The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org. February 16, 2015 Adviser: Obama Faked His Opposition to Marriage Equality for Political Gain ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- A top adviser has confirmed President Obama faked his opposition to same-sex marriage in order to help his 2008 presidential campaign. In a new book, campaign strategist David Axelrod says Obama was always for marriage equality, but lied in order to win votes. Obama reportedly said: "I’m just not very good at B.S.'-ing." But near the end of Obama's first term, Axelrod said the president told aides he would no longer hide his true position. David Axelrod: "There's no doubt that his sympathies were very much on the side of allowing gay couples to marry. He also recognized that the country wasn't there yet and that we needed to bring the country along. This was always the most vexing issue, because there was some part of him that so wanted to say, 'You know what? I just don't believe this.' And in 2012 — 2011, really, he basically said to us, 'Look, I'm just telling you, if I get asked the question, if I were a state legislator, how would I vote, I'm going to say I would vote for gay marriage, and you guys better prepare for it.'" After claiming his position had evolved, President Obama declared his public support for marriage equality in 2012, becoming the first president to do so. .