The Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore’s attorney, Trenton Garmon, suggested that the MSNBC host Ali Velshi’s “background” would help Velshi understand why Moore would pursue relationships with teenage girls.

Garmon had previously made a strange comment about a cable-news host.

The attorney for Roy Moore, the GOP Senate candidate in Alabama, suggested on Wednesday that an MSNBC anchor’s “background” would help the anchor understand why Moore would date teenage girls.

In an interview on MSNBC’s “Velshi and Ruhle,” the attorney, Trenton Garmon, attempted to defend Moore amid allegations that Moore sexually assaulted or pursued relationships with several teenage girls when he was in his 30s, including one woman who said Moore engaged in sexual misconduct with her when she was 14. The age of consent in Alabama is 16.

Moore told the Fox News host Sean Hannity on Friday that he didn’t “remember ever dating any girl without the permission of her mother.”

During the discussion on MSNBC, host Stephanie Ruhle asked Garmon why Moore would seek permission if the women he dated were not underage.

“Culturally speaking, I would say there’s differences,” Garmon said. “I looked up Ali’s background, there – wow, that’s awesome that you have got such a diverse background. It’s really cool to read through that.”

Ruhle immediately cut Garmon off.

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“What does Ali Velshi’s background have to do with dating children, 14-year-old girls?” Ruhle asked.

“Sure, in other countries there’s arrangement through parents for what we would refer to as consensual marriages,” Garmon said.

“Ali’s from Canada,” Ruhle interjected.

“I understand that,” Garmon said. “And Ali’s also spent time in other countries.”

“So have I,” Ruhle said.

“I don’t know where you’re going with this, Trenton,” Velshi said.

The interview immediately went viral online, as many observers said Garmon’s comments were racially charged. Though his family is of Indian descent, Velshi grew up in Canada and was born in Nairobi, Kenya.

On Friday, Garmon made a bizarre comment directed at another television host when he repeatedly dubbed CNN’s Don Lemon “Don Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy.”

Watch the clip via MSNBC: