At 11:06 a.m., Gov. Mike Pence took the podium.
By 11:45 a.m., Pence allowed for one newsworthy stride: The Indiana legislature will write new legislation to address discrimination.
“I believe that the right thing to do is to move legislation to make it clear that this bill does not give businesses the right to deny services to anyone,” Pence told reporters at a press conference Tuesday.
Both specifics and elaboration were lacking from the press conference.
“I expect something on my desk by Friday,” Pence said, adding later that he expects the new legislation to help Indiana “garner support, restore confidence and move forward.”
Pence was asked more than once during press time what the new legislation will detail, how it will protect the LGBT community, etc.
“The language that I’m talking about adding would be consistent with what the Indiana legislature intended and with what I intended,” Pence said.
Then came Pence’s attack on the “reckless media,” which created a “smear that’s been leveled against this law” and the people of Indiana.
Reporter Maureen Hayden asked the governor to cite specific examples of said reckless media.
“Not you, Maureen!” Pence said. “I want to let the Indiana press off the hook here. They’ve had this right from early on.”
Though Pence attributed the law’s national backlash from celebrities, politicians and businesses to poor media coverage, he acknowledged his poor response to the attention.
“I could have handled that better this weekend,” Pence said, referring to his appearance on ‘This Week’ with George Stephanopoulos.
Almost immediately after Pence’s conference ended, Press Secretary for the Democratic National Committee Holly Shulman sent a press release to media outlets.
“Nothing Gov. Pence said today changes the fact he advocated for and signed into law a bill that allows Indiana business to discriminate against the LGBT community under the guise of religious freedom.”
Pence’s jabs at the media fell short on the DNC.
“Attacking the media is no excuse for the fact that Pence was warned this legislation would hurt Indiana’s economy and its image weeks before Pence even signed it into law,” Shulman said in the ?release. “The business community is not lining up against RFRA because of the media backlash, they’re lining up against RFRA because of what it is designed to do: discriminate against LGBT individuals.”
Pence said the week has been tough and that Indiana has a “perception problem” that needs to be fixed. Now it’s a waiting game to find out what exactly the protective “clarifying” legislation will entail.
