Christian celebrity and possible Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson earlier this month repeated his call for Congress to remove federal judges who strike down state bans on gay marriage.

Carson also told the South Carolina audience that, like Jesus, he's not a homophobe.

“Some people think that I hate gay people, that I'm a homophobe,” Carson said. “I'm not. Jesus Christ was not a homophobe. Jesus Christ loved everybody regardless of their lifestyle but he offered them other ways to do things.”

“It's a free country, people can do what they want to do, but they don't get to change the definition of marriage, which is between one man and one woman. I'm concerned by the fact that we're not paying attention to the Constitution the way we should.”

Congress should exercise its “right to rein in judges who don't abide by the will of the people,” he added.

Last month, Carson vowed to stop talking about gay rights after he was pressured to apologize for saying that prison can make a person gay. The incident angered conservatives who said he should not have apologized.

(Related: Ben Carson's campaign in trouble over apology for anti-gay remarks, Bryan Fischer says.)