A Republican Senate candidate from Connecticut on Sunday declared her support for “America’s law” protecting equal marriage rights for LGBT people, even though no such federal law exists.

“I absolutely support America’s law for same-sex marriage,” Linda MacMahon said during a debate with Democratic opponent Chris Murphy. “And I wouldn’t pretend to try to impose my will or rights on others. I think everyone should have the freedom to make that choice.”

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“America doesn’t have a law protecting same-sex marriage, in fact it has the exact opposite,” Murphy pointed out. “The United States has a law that discriminates against people based on their sexual orientation. And the fact that Linda McMahon spent only about 20 seconds answering that question tells you that she’s not going to stand up to her party in Washington when it comes to these issues that right now are being dominated by the social right in Washington. There is a war being waged against gays and lesbians, and I was proud to stand on one side of that war.”

McMahon responded by promising to stand against her party on abortion restrictions and “equal rights for all.”

Following the debate, Murphy told reporters that McMahon’s lack of knowledge about marriage laws showed “how weak her commitment is to standing up to the Republican right wing.”

“Linda McMahon clearly didn’t understand the law today on gay marriage, but she also revealed that she’s not really willing to go to Washington to fight her party,” he explained. “It would be a disaster for the people of this state if they sent a Republican to Washington who is going to gladly empower the agenda to destroy civil rights for minorities in this country.”

For her part, McMahon explained after the debate that she had changed her position on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) “because with now gay marriage approved in the state of Connecticut, I just don’t think it’s fair. And so, I would vote to repeal DOMA.”

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Watch this video from C-SPAN, broadcast Oct. 7, 2012.

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(h/t: The Day via Towleroad)