GOP 2016 presidential hopeful Ben Carson, in an interview with Fox's Bret Baier Wednesday, said that he was "a little bit irritated" by the comparison between gay marriage rights and civil rights.
"I was a little bit irritated that he was equating the whole issue with the Civil Rights movement," Carson said, referring to an interview with CNN's Chris Cuomo back in March.
The doctor added he doesn't recall such a time when signs were put up segregating gays from the others.
"I didn't remember any times when there were signs up that says, you know, 'everybody else here and gay people have to drink at this fountain,'" said Carson.
However, he said that he shouldn't have allowed his emotions to get the better of him and clarified that he was merely reacting to Cuomo's way of questioning regarding the issue.
The March interview put Carson in controversy when he told Cuomo that being gay is a choice, citing that many people "who go into prison, go into prison straight - and when they come out they're gay." He added that marriage is between a man and a woman. According to him, it is not necessary to give a new definition of marriage in order for gay couples to have equal rights, The Guardian reports.
The doctor said he had a question that he had been wanting to get an answer to.
"I would love for the gay community to answer this question for me: what position can a person take who has absolutely no animosity toward gay people but believes in traditional marriage that would be satisfactory to them? Very happy to compromise but I haven't heard an answer to that yet," he said, according to Advocate.com.
Carson also sparked controversy when he discussed other topics, such as comparing the Affordable Care Act to slavery and commenting that America's economic problems stem from political correctness.
Carson said he was glad to see how the criticisms about him have made him stronger. In a survey from CNN/ORC, he landed seventh place among the GOP presidential hopefuls.
"They saw that as the opportunity to finally knock this guy out," he said, taking a jab at how his critics try to bring him down. "And they thought that they had done it. Stick a fork in him, he's gone. They were jubilant. And now they're saying, 'I can't believe this guy's still here, are you kidding me?'"
