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SALT LAKE CITY -- Former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman has some choice words for the Texas pastor who called Mormonism "a cult."
Friday Pastor Robert Jeffress of the First Baptist Church in Dallas introduced Texas Gov. Rick Perry, then told reporters Mitt Romney's LDS faith is a false religion and a cult. Jeffress later defended his comments.
"Part of a pastor's job is to warn his people and others about false religions. Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Mormonism are all false religions. And I stand by those statements," he said.
The fact that some moron can stand up and make a comment like that -- first of all, it's outrageous.
–Jon Huntsman
Monday night on CNN's Situation Room, Huntsman blasted Jeffress and his comments.
"The fact that some moron can stand up and make a comment like that -- first of all, it's outrageous. Second of all, the fact that we're spending so much time discussing it makes it even worse," Huntsman said.
He suggested Perry should separate himself from Jeffress.
"Make an immediate and decisive break. Period," Huntsman said. "This kind of talk has no home in American politics."
He said the discussion isn't helping American voters.
"As far as I'm concerned, let's stick to the big issues that really matter and leave religion off the table. The last I looked, it wasn't a prerequisite or requirement for the presidency."
