Biden campaign tries to dunk on House Speaker Johnson over his views on gay marriage, apparently hoping no one remembers the president's long-standing opposition to gay marriage

The Biden campaign lashed out at House Speaker Mike Johnson last week for his past remarks about homosexuality. Like the 80-year-old president, the campaign appears to have a short memory, given that Biden spent most of his political career opposing so-called gay rights and gay "marriage."

Following Johnson's election to the speakership, Democratic boosters, including the Washington Post's Jonathan Capehart and the New York Times' Paul Krugman, worked ardently to cast the Louisiana Republican as a Christian extremist and a reactionary.

On Wednesday, the Biden campaign got in on the action, tweeting, "Mike Johnson called for criminalizing gay sex. Johnson called same-sex relations 'inherently unnatural' and said it could destroy 'the entire democratic system.' He railed against courts for 'closing bedroom doors' and upholding the right to privacy."

The post linked to a CNN hit piece referencing Johnson's past remarks about non-straight lifestyle choices, including a 2004 article in which he wrote, "Homosexual relationships are inherently unnatural and, the studies clearly show, are ultimately harmful and costly for everyone. ... Society cannot give its stamp of approval to such a dangerous lifestyle. If we change marriage for this tiny, modern minority, we will have to do it for every deviant group. Polygamists, polyamorists, pedophiles, and others will be next in line to claim equal protection."

CNN also included a quote from a 2005 opinion piece wherein the then-Alliance Defense Fund attorney noted, "Your race, creed, and sex are what you are, while homosexuality and cross-dressing are things you do. ... This is a free country, but we don’t give special protections for every person’s bizarre choices."

The Biden-Harris campaign account shared an image of the 2005 article in a Friday post.

The Biden campaign's attack prompted some critics to revisit the geriatric president's glass house.

Biden, like former President Barack Obama, spent most of his political career staunchly opposed to gay "marriage" — until it became politically expedient to change course.

The Washington Post reported that as a freshman senator in 1973, Biden said that homosexuals "are security risks."

Twenty years later, Biden revealed his thinking hadn't changed a great deal on the matter, voting in support of a prohibition of openly gay service members in the U.S. military, which claimed the "presence in the armed forces of persons who demonstrate a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts would create an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion."

In 1993, Biden also voted in favor of an amendment codifying the Department of Health and Human Services' ban on the permanent immigration of individuals who were HIV-positive, reported Fox News Digital.

In 1994, Biden supported an amendment that would defund any school district that encouraged homosexuality "as a positive lifestyle alternative."

In 1996, Biden voted for the Defense of Marriage Act, which prevented the federal government from recognizing homosexual unions.

The legislation defined marriage as "only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word 'spouse' refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife."

Former President Bill Clinton ratified the act without generating significant waves. After all, polls showed that the supermajority of Americans were opposed to homosexual "marriages," reported the Washington Examiner.

Even as Americans warmed to the idea of state-recognized homosexual unions, Biden held firm on his opposition, telling CNN in 2006, "Look, marriage is between a man and a woman. ... Tell me why that has to be put in the Constitution now. We already have a federal law that has not been challenged. No one's declared it unconstitutional. It's the law of the land, saying marriage is between a man and a woman."

In case some had misinterpreted his meaning, he told NBC's "Meet the Press" the same year, "Why do we need a constitutional amendment? Marriage is between a man and a woman."

While Biden has flip-flopped on the issue, Johnson, when pressed about his past comments, told Fox News' Sean Hannity, "Go pick up a Bible off your shelf and read it – that's my worldview. That's what I believe, so I do not apologize for it. ... I also genuinely love all people regardless of their lifestyle choices. This is not about the people themselves. I am a Bible-believing Christian."

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