NBC “Today” host Craig Melvin took three passes at getting Chick-fil-A CEO Andrew Cathy to recant the company’s past support for traditional marriage, but the business leader didn’t take the bait.
Melvin first observed in an interview with Cathy, which aired on Wednesday, that Chick-fil-A, the country’s third-largest restaurant chain, is a company “built on God, if you will.”
“That still also seems very much to be a part of Chick-fil-A,” he added.
Cathy, who took over the CEO position from his father, Dan Cathy, in 2021, affirmed, “It is our anchor in the sense of what our corporate purpose states: that we’re in business to glorify God.”
“It’s about being a faithful steward of all that’s entrusted to us,” Cathy said.
Having established that fact, Melvin then raised the 2012 controversy involving the company after then-CEO Dan Cathy voiced his support for biblical marriage.
“Chick-fil-A donated millions to conservative Christian organizations opposed to LGBTQ rights,” Melvin said.
“Dan Cathy never changed his stance on gay marriage, but he did express regret for involving the company in the debate,” the host noted.
Melvin then pressed Andrew Cathy about the policy, asking what he would say to “the LGBTQ+ community” and their supporters now.
In other words, Melvin was asking Andrew Cathy to recant his father’s Christian views.
The CEO responded that he would say to anyone that they should “try the great-tasting food and the hospitality we’re known for.”
Melvin took another pass: “You don’t want to talk about that chapter in Chick-fil-A’s history.”
“We’re focused on serving everybody that comes in to eat with us,” Cathy reiterated.
Melvin went in one more time, asking directly, “The company’s official position on equal rights is?”
Cathy did not flinch, saying, “We’re focused on hospitality, serving great-tasting food and great service.”
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That’s really the perfect response. Basically, he’s saying, “We don’t discriminate against anyone as a business. We’re just here to sell good-tasting chicken.”
Dan Cathy’s supposed sin in 2012, in the eyes of the politically correct, was expressing his Christian views and actually supporting organizations through the Chick-fil-A charitable foundation that also upheld traditional marriage.
Recall that this was during a time period when various courts and state legislators were taking up the issue.
It apparently was not enough for Melvin that Chick-fil-A announced in the midst of the controversy in 2012, “Going forward, our intent is to leave the policy debate over same-sex marriage to the government and political arena.”
The Supreme Court ultimately ruled in 2015 that all states must recognize so-called same-sex marriages.
Andrew Cathy is to be commended for staying on message and not giving in to Melvin’s woke pressure tactics.
This article originally appeared on The Western Journal and is reposted with permission.
