NEW YORK — Stephen Colbert grilled potential U.S. Senate candidate Harold Ford Jr. on Monday about his shifting beliefs on gay marriage and abortion rights, while Ford defended himself as open-minded to change.
During an appearance taped for Monday night’s “The Colbert Report” on Comedy Central, the fake pundit ribbed the former Tennessee congressman for only recently moving to New York state, where he’s considering challenging Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in the Democratic primary.
“Evidently six minutes at my interview table counts as New York state residency,” Colbert said.
Ford, who represented a Tennessee district in Congress for 10 years, moved to New York City after losing the 2006 U.S. Senate race there. He had repeatedly described himself as “pro-life” in Tennessee and had explicitly said he was “not pro-choice.”
But now Ford, eyeing a run in more left-leaning New York state, says he has always supported abortion rights.
“Did you change from not pro-choice to pro-choice?” Colbert asked. “Was that your choice?”
Ford said he was trying to use the political language differently in Tennessee, wanting to expand the definition of “pro-life” to apply to other issues, such as “health care and veterans’ benefits.”
And on gay marriage, Ford said he simply changed his mind.
As a congressman, he voted in support of a constitutional amendment to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
“Over the last few years I’ve come to a different opinion, and I’m for marriage equality,” Ford said. “If you’re for politicians who are static in thinking, I’m not your guy.”
Colbert complimented Ford for taunting the New York press with confusing explanations he has given about his positions.
“You’re saying these things in the media capital of the world, New York City — gotcha town,” Colbert said. “And you’re saying, ‘Come and gotcha me.'”