Gary Johnson Condemns Booing Of Gay Soldier, Regrets His Silence On Stage (VIDEO)

Republican presidential candidate Gary Johnson condemned the booing of a gay servicemember that occurred at Thursday night's Fox News/Google GOP debate, and he expressed regret for not speaking up at the time.

In an interview with Rev. Al Sharpton on MSNBC, the former New Mexico governor said the incident -- in which a gay soldier serving in Iraq was loudly booed -- was "not right" and not representative of the Republican party he belongs to.

"If I have one regret from last evening, it’s that I didn’t stand up and say, you know, you’re booing a U.S. serviceman who is denied being able to express his sexual preference," he said. "There’s something very, very wrong with that."

Johnson said he was "chomping at the bit" to respond to the audience, but he was reticent to speak out due to his exclusion from the recent debates. "I’m feeling a little bit like I’m walking on egg shells," he said.

He told Sharpton he believes the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, which went into effect on Sept. 20, should have been done "a long time ago."

Sharpton asked Johnson about the unexpected outbursts from audience members that have characterized the last three Republican debates. At the Reagan Library debate on Sept. 7, the audience spontaneously applauded the mere mention of executions performed under the Texas governorship of Rick Perry. During the Sept. 12 CNN/Tea Party debate, Wolf Blitzer asked a hypothetical question about the fate of a sick, uninsured patient. "Are you saying society should just let him die?" Blitzer asked, provoking cheers of "Yeah!" from the audience.

Johnson, agreeing with Sharpton's description of the incidents as "ugly," called himself "the different voice in that debate." He said that he views the death penalty as "flawed public policy," and he argued in favor of caring for the sick, adding that "government perhaps is the only entity that's available" for the most needy. "Let him die? No, that’s not this country," he said. "We are a country of compassion. These are the people that we want to help."

Comments

[DariaC]

09:53 AM on 10/02/2011

This guy is very unpolished. He needs work. He may be what the GOP needs but he can't sell it to them the way he is now. Too indirect.

[truth be told again]

10:43 AM on 09/28/2011

If Johnson still uses the term "sexual preference", maybe he isn't the right gay GOP 'leader' in ther first place. It feeds into the "it's a choice" nonsense we get from the frightwing.

[CJHAN]

12:58 AM on 09/26/2011

I think this guy know as well as most smart people that a so called "fair tax" is only good for the rich which most of us are not. Basicly you pay tax on thing that you buy and if you just keep the cash you pay no tax at all. that being said people like me and you have to spend about 95% or more of what we make just to live where if you make lets say $1 million you can live a very good life on about 300k a year, so that other 700k is never subject to tax so if the consumption tax is lets say 25% ( and it will have to be high in order to pay for the things we cant do without like the military) the richichest amoug us would only pay tax on the first 300k and they can sock the rest away so that thay can get the regulation changed later on down the road when it suites them best and the rest of the middle class will be left to carry the load for the country. Just like it is now so what is fair about that.

[Cheri Quinn]

11:02 PM on 09/25/2011

Too bad he didn't have the audacity to do it at the time.

[henrypapillon]

01:57 AM on 09/26/2011

Audacity=balls.

[Cheri Quinn]

10:29 AM on 09/26/2011

precisely

[James Skene]

09:18 PM on 09/25/2011

Gary Johnson commented in a previous debate that he was pro-choice and was booed. He isn't afraid to say what he thinks. They kept him out of the two previous debates, however, and he had to fight for a place on the stage. Politics takes wisdom enough to know when and where to pick your battles. Incidentally, if anyone is interested, he did a Yputube video answering every question from the Tea Party debate as if asked directly to him. He did this as a response to their not letting him debate. Interesting guy. Climbed Mt. Everest cycles,

[klinzboy]

10:41 PM on 09/25/2011

Better late than never! At least there is one conservative candidate that may be able to tell the difference between right and wrong, good and evil, justice and injustice. Thanks for providing the peripheral information about the man. Anyone who gets booed by that audience will score points with normal thoughtful human beings.

[amaranthian]

09:16 PM on 09/25/2011

all he's saying is that, in the moment, he favored the party line over his own principled objection. classy.

[RC81]

08:30 PM on 09/25/2011

At least he's saying something. It's probably going to get him in a heap of trouble with the other republidin*s. He may have some of the compassion needed for the oval office (and for just plain being human) but he's has a long way to go with some of his other rhetoric as well as his style. In this clip, his delivery was brutal!

[sophie M]

06:27 PM on 09/25/2011

well at least one repub, had regret.

[ESerafina42]

07:54 PM on 09/25/2011

Retroactive regret, but when it mattered most, he stood silent along with the other "patriots."

[JamesAndre]

05:32 PM on 09/25/2011

Behind in polling, he hopes to stir controversy -- by being reasonable.

http://therationalprogressive.com/cms/

[terry63]

05:22 PM on 09/25/2011

Its one of the most unpopular rulings ever. If the repeal of DADT, were put to a vote it would not have a chance in passing. It had to be done by Washington. People are not happy with it. Not just the Republican Party, Not just Blue Dogs, not just Independants but the Military also. People are offended. They are not Offended that gay soldiers serve in the Military, everyone knows that is a fact. But to give gay soldiers the authority to commit Sodomy,at will in uniform, is offencive. As I have said before, there are rules in the military, they are there for a reason. There are rules for every single thing that happens, regulations from how you dress to how you act and where you stand. An enlisted man cannot have relationships with an Officer, there is a reason for that. It still goes on , but if youre caught your going to be in trouble. An Officer , cannot have relations with a new recruit .There is a reason for that. Open , sodomy at will is not allowed in the military, there is a reason for that.This is not an MTV reality show. This is your military.If you think that the mid term elections were lop sided, you aint seen nothin yet!

[Erin Scott]

07:29 PM on 09/25/2011

Your complete misunderstanding of simple facts is really laughable. There are still rules against sexual activity and other conduct while on duty. DADT punished identity. People were kicked out because they identified as homosexual, a characteristic, not simply a matter of behavior, or if they were found to have had a partner in their civilian lives. If you don't have a problem with gay people serving, then you shouldn't have a problem with repeal. Everything you said in the second half about rules against relationships is correct, yet you illogically assert that despite all of that, the military is making an exception or something for gay people. False.

[ESerafina42]

07:56 PM on 09/25/2011

"a national Gallup poll taken after Congress repealed DADT showed that 67 percent of those surveyed supported repeal"

http://www.npr.org/2011/09/20/140605121/with-repeal-of-dont-ask-dont-tell-an-era-ends

[yoozum]

04:55 PM on 09/25/2011

Of course he didn't mention it at the debate - he didn't want to get booed either!

[beanie]

04:39 PM on 09/25/2011

He obviously made a political decision, not a principled one. Conservatives feel strongly about homosexuality. The feelings range from extreme anger and fear to intolerance. They simply cannot and will not accept the idea. It would be like selling democracy to the Afghans.

[Norcal2]

12:23 PM on 09/27/2011

That's not true. Many conservatives support gay rights....and the numbers are growing all the time.

[truth be told again]

10:51 AM on 09/28/2011

Name 150 million of them.

[gwinegarden]

02:24 PM on 09/25/2011

During the next GOP debate, ask each one of them their opinion, of the booing, and watch them duck and bob and weave.

[Sarah Trickey]

12:42 PM on 09/25/2011

"the different voice in that debate."
Really? And that's why, while on the stage of national telly, you openly confronted the very public frenzy of "let'em die" and "we don't support those people" opines?
No. You waited until it was 'safe' to comment - meaning 20-40% less viewership and no stage. Perhaps you were in shock and needed time to assimilate the knowledge that your party's base is as selfish and self-centered as any 2 yo and more malicious and jealous than any fantasy villain (your christian satan would be proud).
Personally, I was incredibly sickened not a single candidate even looked uncomfortable at those outbursts. Every one on stage was grinning and nodding. Every single man and woman who represents this country is setting an example that, for better or worse, citizens might follow as effortlessly as powering up the telly. It's a shame that this line-up of world leader contestants seem to be setting examples of human behavior most often found in tabloid rags.

[Muskered]

12:37 PM on 09/25/2011

You say booing a gay soldier is not representative of the Republican party you belong to, Gary? The booing is exactly representative of the Republican party.