WATCH NOW: Sen. Braun open to U.S. Supreme Court rescinding ruling that legalized interracial marriage

U.S. Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., would welcome the U.S. Supreme Court rescinding its 1967 ruling that legalized interracial marriage nationwide in favor of allowing each of the 50 states to decide such issues on its own.

Speaking Tuesday on a conference call with Indiana reporters, the Hoosier senator unambiguously declared his belief that many of the high court's key civil rights decisions of the past 70 years were wrongly decided and an improper usurpation of states' rights.

Braun initially limited his claim to the national right to abortion established by the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision he hopes the current, more conservative, Supreme Court will overturn in coming months when it rules in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization.

But, when asked by The Times, Braun admitted there are many Supreme Court decisions he believes improperly established federal rights that would be better handled on a state-by-state basis, including Loving v. Virginia that legalized interracial marriage, and Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) establishing a right to privacy concerning contraceptive use.

"You can list a whole host of issues," Braun said. "When it comes down to whatever they are, I'm going to say they're not going to all make you happy within a given state. But we're better off having states manifest their points of view, rather than homogenizing it across the country as Roe v. Wade did."

Specifically concerning interracial marriage, Braun rejected the reasoning of a unanimous Supreme Court that the freedom to marry is a fundamental constitutional right and states depriving Americans of it on an arbitrary basis, such as race, is unconstitutional.

He acknowledged leaving such a question to states is likely to lead to situations where a marriage may be recognized in one state and not in another, but he shrugged it off as "the beauty of the system."

"This should be something where the expression of individual states are able to weigh-in on these issues through their own legislation, through their own court systems. Quit trying to put the federal government in charge," Braun said.

To that end, Braun pointed to the widespread adoption of state laws legalizing individual use of medicinal and recreational marijuana, notwithstanding the fact cannabis remains an illegal controlled substance under federal law.

"That's part of the way that we navigate through issues that are generally going to be divisive, that are generally very vitriolic, and you solve that by not trying to nationalize it," Braun said. "One side of the aisle, out here, wants to do more of that all the time, and I think we've gone far enough there into a variety of issues.

"I think if you're not wanting the Supreme Court to weigh in on issues like that, you're not going to be able to have your cake and eat it, too. I think that's hypocritical."

Braun later walked back his comments by claiming he misunderstood the question, despite the question being asked multiple times in different ways to ensure Braun meant and understood what he said concerning interracial marriage.

"Let me be clear on that issue — there is no question the Constitution prohibits discrimination of any kind based on race, that is not something that is even up for debate, and I condemn racism in any form, at all levels and by any states, entities or individuals," Braun said.

Braun's original statement was condemned by the Indiana Democratic Party as "not only un-American, but beneath any respectable person wishing to hold public office."

"The United States Supreme Court has affirmed many times that marriage equality in our country extends to any committed couple regardless of sex, race, orientation, or religious affiliation, and to question that legitimacy questions the very fabric of America and its people," said Mike Schmuhl, Indiana Democratic chairman.

"Democrats implore all Hoosiers to ask themselves if they want to be associated with someone as embarrassing as Mike Braun and a form of partisanship that endorses white nationalist views — because these are the same views that led to the insurrection against our nation on January 6, 2021. If Mike Braun wants to question the legitimacy of anything, it should be his own standing as a United States senator."

As for the current judicial vacancy on the high court, Braun said he hasn't yet decided whether he will vote to confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson and make her the first black woman to serve alongside the eight other Supreme Court justices.

Braun said he wants to see what Jackson says under questioning this week by the Senate Judiciary Committee and then he plans to carefully review her past rulings to see if they conform to his expectations for federal judges.

"She seems well-qualified. But whenever I vote for a Supreme Court justice it's going to be, basically, how are you going to interpret the law," Braun said. "If your record shows that you're going to be kind of an activist there, I don't think that's good, and I don't think the Founders intended it that way."