Cain: No, Seriously, I Might Put Up An Electrified Border Fence

At an event in Tennessee over the weekend, Herman Cain told a crowd that he might put up an electrified fence on the Southern border to stop illegal immigration. The line seemed to be a variation of his joke that he would put an alligator-filled moat on the border. And on Sunday, during a Meet the Press appearance, Cain said that he was indeed joking. "That's a joke, David," Cain told NBC's David Gregory. "That's not a serious plan."

Now, the Phoenix New Times reports, Cain seems to be saying that he would actually consider putting an electrified fence on the border: 

Halfway through the question about the electric fence, Cain butted in with “it was a joke!” “Let me first say it was a joke, and some people don’t think that it was a good joke, and it’s probably not a joke that you’re supposed to make if you’re a presidential candidate,” Cain continued. “I apologize if it offended anyone. Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea culpa.”

Only, it might not be a joke, he later said, before finally saying he just doesn’t want to offend anyone. “I don’t like to offend anyone…however, I don’t apologize for using a combination of a fence. And it might be electrified — I’m not walking away from that,” Cain backtracked. “I just don’t want to offend anybody. It was a joke to the extent in the context of the views of that speech, but in terms of what we need to do, I fully intend to do so because I’m more sensitive to our citizens being hurt.”