Tom Tancredo Flips The Dirty Bird At Protester

Former congressman and current Republican candidate for Colorado governor Tom Tancredo flashed his middle finger to a protester at a campaign event over the weekend -- and has no regrets.

ColoradoPols first surfaced the video of Tancredo flipping the dirty bird at a supporter of Sen. Evie Hudak (D-Westminster) at a Hudak recall rally on Saturday in Denver. Hudak is the third Colorado Democrat who has been targeted for recall over her support for new gun control laws in the state.

Tancredo says he the middle finger salute is not what he would do to people he doesn't agree with if he is elected as governor. But he isn't sorry for the move either, and said he gave the protester what he feels was deserved.

"You have to understand how this happened," Tancredo told CBS4. "I wasn’t speaking to him. I was walking back to the vehicle with two ladies next to me and he yells, 'Get blanked,'" Tancredo said. "And he comes over the car and leans in, and I flipped him off."

Watch Tancredo's full interview with CBS4's Shaun Boyd (story continues below video):

Gun rights activists and the National Rifle Association scored a major victory in September's historic recall election in Colorado -- the first ever recall election in state history -- with the ouster of both Senate President John Morse (D-Colorado Springs) and Sen. Angela Giron (D-Pueblo) over their support of gun laws.

This is Tancredo's second run for Colorado governor. Running as the Constitution Party's candidate, he lost to Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper in 2010. If he wins his party's nomination, would face off against Hickenlooper for governor again in 2014.