Paladino Recants Anti-Gay Rant

Two days after giving a speech to Orthodox Jewish leaders in which he said he doesn’t want children “ brainwashed” into thinking that being gay is acceptable, New York Republican gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino has apologized to the gay community. “I am neither perfect, nor a career politician,” Paladino said in a statement. He also wrote that he is “100% against hate crimes” and “a friend to many in the gay and lesbian community.” A strategist for the Human Rights Campaign wasn’t impressed, saying “there is nothing in his statement that changes my opinion that he’s unfit to be governor.”