CNBC Anchor Confronts Rick Perry About Remark Comparing Gays To Alcoholics

CATHERINE THOMPSON – JUNE 16, 2014, 9:34 AM EDT

A CNBC anchor pressed Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) on Monday to explain his remark that compared being gay to being an alcoholic.

"Whether or not you feel compelled to follow a particular lifestyle or not, you have the ability to decide not to do that," Perry said Wednesday at an event in San Francisco. "I may have the genetic coding that I'm inclined to be an alcoholic, but I have the desire not to do that, and I look at the homosexual issue the same way."

"I have a really high bar for what I would take offense to, but that would exceed the bar for me on being an offensive comment," "Squawk Box" host Joe Kernan told Perry. "I don't think gay marriage leads to cirrhosis of the liver or domestic violence or DWIs. I don't understand how that's similar."

Perry responded that the gay marriage issue has always been a battleground for states' rights and rejected the idea that Washington should make decisions on issues like same-sex marriage. Perry said earlier that even though Texas voters had overwhelmingly rejected same-sex marriage, he still respected the legalization of gay marriage in states like California and New York.

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