Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) acknowledged Thursday that he put his foot in his mouth when he recently compared being gay to being an alcoholic.
At a lunch sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor, he sought to shift emphasis away from the disputed comparison — which was panned by a CNBC anchor and, naturally, mocked by Jon Stewart.
“I got asked about an issue, and instead of saying, ‘You know what, we need to be a really respectful and tolerant country, and get back to talking about, whether you’re gay or straight you need to be having a job, and those are the focuses I want to be involved with,’ instead of getting — which I did, I readily admit, I stepped right in it,” Perry said, as quoted by Politico.
Perry said the Republican Party needs to focus less on social issues and more on convincing Americans that its policies will benefit them economically.
“If you really are going to be the party that’s going to talk to everyone, we say, ‘Listen you may not agree with all of my positions, but giving you and your family and your loved ones the opportunity to get a better life, if we create a climate in this country where you’re going to have a job, and a good job, and a good paying job’ — if we’ll do that, then I think we’ll be successful,” he said, as quoted by Politico.
This post has been updated.
