House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi maintained Thursday that her "loyalty lies" with KFC when asked about the ongoing controversy over the owner of Chick-fil-A's stance on marriage equality.
"What I Tweeted was I'm a Kentucky Fried Chicken Fan, that's where my loyalty lies, but I'm here to talk about tax policy of the United States of America, avoiding a budget cliff and the rest of that," the California Democrat said at a press conference.
Last Friday Pelosi Tweeted a short, but pointed message with the hashtag "#ChickFilA."
Her tweet came after Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy told the Baptist Press in July "guilty as charged" when asked about the company's position on traditional marriage.
"We are very much supportive of the family — the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that," he said, according to the Baptist Press.
His comments angered advocates of gay-marriage rights, spurring calls to protest the fast-food chain, but it also elicited an outpouring of appreciation from supporters, including many lawmakers.
The dissension prompted mayors, including Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel (D) and Boston Mayor Tom Menino (D) to voice opposition to the 1,600-plus-establishments chain.
San Francisco Mayor Edwin M. Lee tweeted a couple of messages directed at the Atlanta-based company, including suggesting that Chick-fil-A not "try to come any closer" to the city.
The California congresswoman said she would leave local matters up to local governments.
"I believe in freedom of expression, but I believe that the mayor of San Francisco has freedom of expression as well," she said.
