ThinkProgress filed this report from the Values Voters Summit in Washington, DC
Conservative Bill Bennett spoke out against pastor Jeff Jeffress’ comment yesterday at the Values Voters Summit, where he reiterated his view that “Mormonism is a cult.” A big supporter of Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R), Jeffress introduced governor at the conference yesterday. Today, Bennett condemned Jeffress, telling the prominent Perry supporter, “You did Rick Perry no good, sir”:
Do not give voice to bigotry. Do not give voice to bigotry. I would say to Pastor Jeffress: You stepped on and obscured the words of Perry and Santorum and Cain and Bachmann and everyone else who has spoken here. You did Rick Perry no good, sir, in what you had to say.
Watch it:
Former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA) took the stage shortly after Bennett, and he praised Bennett’s earlier speech, saying, “Speaking of hitting it out of the park, how was that Bill Bennett?” Yesterday, Perry had praised Jeffress’ speech by saying that he had knocked it out of the park.
Jeffress is no stranger to controversial comments about religion. In the past he’s said that Mormons, Jews, and Muslims are “from the pit of Hell.”
Rebecca Leber contributed to this report.