WASHINGTON, Jan. 13 (UPI) — The mystery of how Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis acquired a ticket for the State of the Union address on Tuesday was solved after conservative Rep. Jim Jordan fessed up to giving her an invite.
Jordan, the House Freedom Caucus leader and an Ohio Republican, said he gave his State of the Union ticket to the Family Research Council. The organization turned around and gave the ticket to Davis who was jailed for defying court orders to issue same-sex marriage licenses.
When asked about giving his ticket to Davis, at first Jordan did not realize he had invited her, but later confirmed it with his staff.
“Yeah, so we gave a ticket to — at the request of the Family Research Council — we gave the ticket to Kim Davis’ family,” he told the Huffington Post.
Jordan’s spokesman later pointed out it was meant as a kind gesture, not a political statement.
“Kim Davis used our ticket,” Darin Miller said. “Our staff heard from the Family Research Council that Ms. Davis and her family hoped to attend the State of the Union address and so we offered a ticket.”
Davis drew attention this past summer after she repeatedly refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized gay marriage. She spent five nights in jail and became a conservative hero.
Davis was in the audience along with Jim Obergefell, the plaintiff in the U.S. Supreme Court case that led to legalizing gay marriage.
