CNN anchor Ashleigh Banfield on Friday clarified her remarks on being gay, saying she misspoke.

The Early Start anchor attracted attention on Thursday when she responded to Pastor Curtis Knapp, the Kansas pastor who said during a sermon that he believes the government should kill gay men and lesbians.

Knapp stood by his comments during a taped interview with CNN, saying: “We punish pedophilia. We punish incest. We punish polygamy, and various things. It's only homosexuality that is lifted out as an exemption.” He went on say he wouldn't “lay a finger against them.”

After playing the clip, Banfield commented: “[W]e gotta outline here, when he says, 'They punish incest and pedophilia,' please. Those things are often not by choice and are crimes. Homosexuality is a lifestyle choice by people. It is voluntary.”

On Friday, she clarified her remarks, saying she misspoke.

“I made some comments yesterday that ended up getting a lot of traction out there, not only on Twitter but elsewhere. And I want to be very, very clear about what my comments were about. I probably misspoke and mangled words, but I want to be very clear.”

“When I said that incest and pedophilia involve people who don't have a choice – victims who don't have a choice – and then said a gay relationship, you do have a choice, they are not crimes. Gay people involved in relationships are not committing any crimes at all. However, those who perpetrate incest and perpetrate pedophilia are committing crimes. I don't know that my comments were taken in that light and I certainly hope they were, but in no way did I ever want to suggest that being gay is a choice. It is not. And I probably used the word 'lifestyle choice' – not what I meant to say at all. Being gay is not a choice; being in a voluntary gay relationship is a choice. It is not a crime. So I hope that at least clears up any of the comments I made after that story of the pastor.”

“And in no way do I agree with or stand by any of the comments that that pastor made either,” she added. (Watch the segment at CNN.)