Milo Yiannopoulos denies defending pedophilia after comments emerge

Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos defended himself at length Sunday after CNN's Jake Tapper and many others called him out for recorded remarks in which he seemed to defend pedophilia. At one point he said he was glad he himself had been molested, because it taught him to be good at oral sex.

Yiannopoulos, a conservative, self-professed troll, said he was taken out of context and did not support pedophilia — but he quickly found that internet attacks aren't as fun when you're the one being attacked.

Yiannopoulos' comments emerged two days after he accused transgender women of wanting to molest children during a "Real Time With Bill Maher" appearance. The remarks drew added fury because he was recently named a speaker at the influential Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) and given a book deal with Simon & Schuster. After UC Berkeley canceled a speech by Yiannopoulos a few weeks ago, President Trump threatened to cut its federal funding.

Also Read: Milo Yiannopoulos Fact Check: Are Trans People 'Disproportionately Involved' in Sex Crimes?

His comments about 13-year-olds quickly ricocheted around Twitter, which banned him last year for trolling "Ghostbusters" star Leslie Jones. In an interview with the Drunken Peasants podcast, he said that in some cases, 13-year-olds who have sex with people in their twenties are the real predators.

"We're talking about 13/25, 13/28, these things do happen perfectly consensually. Often it's the women who suffer, by the way, because what normally happens in schools, very often, is that the boy is the predator in that situation ...'" he said.

Here's the video:

When one of his interviewers replies, "It sounds like Catholic priest molestation to me," Yiannopoulos says that being molested by a priest made him good at oral sex.

"You know what? I'm grateful for Father Michael. I wouldn't give nearly such good head if it wasn't for him," he says.

Also Read: Larry Wilmore to Milo on Bill Maher's 'Overtime': 'Go F-- Yourself' (Video)

He also says "pedophilia is not an attraction to someone 13 years old who is sexually mature," but rather involves prepubescent children.

Yiannopoulos explained himself in a lengthy Facebook post that began, "A note for idiots (UPDATED): I do not support pedophilia. Period. It is a vile and disgusting crime, perhaps the very worst."

"I did say that there are relationships between younger men and older men that can help a young gay man escape from a lack of support or understanding at home. That's perfectly true and every gay man knows it. But I was not talking about anything illegal and I was not referring to pre-pubescent boys."

He added: "I shouldn't have used the word 'boy' when I talked about those relationships between older men and younger gay men. (I was talking about my own relationship when I was 17 with a man who was 29. The age of consent in the UK is 16.) That was a mistake. Gay men often use the word "boy" when they refer to consenting adults. I understand that heterosexual people might not know that, so it was a sloppy choice of words that I regret."

He also said the videos were taken out of context, but acknowledged: "I *did* joke about giving better head as a result of clerical sexual abuse committed against me when I was a teen."

He added: "If I choose to deal in an edgy way on an internet livestream with a crime I was the victim of that's my prerogative. It's no different to gallows humor from AIDS sufferers."

Tapper called out Yiannopoulos' comments and questioned why he would be speaking at CPAC in a series of tweets. The CNN host said a conservative friend who had been molested as a child was "horrified" by Yiannopoulos' recorded statements.