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This Presidential Candidate Said Gay Rights Aren't The Same As Civil Rights

He also thinks modern America is kinda like Nazi Germany...

During a spring interview with CNN's Chris Cuomo, Republican presidential hopeful Ben Carson said that unlike race, being gay was a “choice” — a statement he later apologized for — and now he’s explaining why he gave that answer.

Initially asked by Cuomo about his opinions on marriage equality, Dr. Carson had said it should be left up to the states to decide. Cuomo pressed, “What if people of a state vote for a law, 100 to zero, that winds up infringing on the rights of a minority -- like happened very often with slavery? Like many would argue is happening now with people who are gay?"

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<> on April 8, 2015 in New York City.

This was where Dr. Carson said race wasn’t a choice but being gay was. Why did he think that? "A lot of people who go into prison, [they] go into prison straight and when they come out, they're gay," he said at the time.

Now he’s saying that the comparison by Cuomo threw him off and made him upset.

"I was a little bit irritated that he was equating the whole [marriage equality] issue with the Civil Rights movement,” Dr. Carson said. “Because, quite frankly, 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.'"

He continued, “I was a little irritated, but I shouldn't have allowed that to enter into the discussion."

While Dr. Carson believes the comparison between Civil Rights and gay rights is unfair, he has stood by his statement that modern America is comparable to Nazi Germany.

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