Herman Cain, Republican presidential
candidate, on Thursday night refused to expand on why he believes
being gay is a choice.
The 65-year-old Cain made his remarks
during an appearance on MSNBC's The Last Word with Lawrence
O'Donnell.
When host Lawrence O'Donnell pitched a
question submitted via Twitter that referred to Cain's previous
statements on ABC's The View, Cain refused to answer the
question.
On The View, Cain agreed to a
list of conservative positions rattled off by co-host Joy Behar,
including his opposition to gay marriage, his belief that “Don't
Ask, Don't Tell,” the policy which ended on September 20 that
banned gay and bisexual troops from serving openly, should be
reinstated, and his belief that being gay is a choice.
“I don't think anybody in this world
wants to be gay considering all the vilification that is brought upon
someone who is gay. Why would you choose that?” Behar asked.
“Well, you show me the science that
says that it's not and I could be persuaded,” Cain responded, then
added, otherwise it's “just a difference of opinion.”
On The Last Word, the viewer
wanted to know if Cain had chosen to be straight.
“Lawrence, there will always be a
difference of opinion,” Cain said. “Like I told Joy Behar. She
has her opinion, I have my opinion. It's a difference of opinion.
Next question, please.” (The video is embedded in the right panel
of this page.)
(Related: Herman
Cain's choice not to be gay praised by Stephen Colbert.)