The country is losing its moral core because Americans are “preoccupied with homosexual activities” and “the wife swap shows” that are on television, Alabama Secretary of State and Republican U.S. Senate candidate John Merrill said over the weekend at a town hall and confirmed Monday to AL.com.

Merrill bemoaned that wholesome TV shows are no longer on the air when speaking about what he called America’s cultural decline at a campaign stop in Fort Payne, Yellowhammer News reported.

In a phone interview Monday night, Merrill confirmed his remarks to AL.com.

“The foundational principles which we have grown up as a nation are no more,” the secretary of state and Senate candidate said. “There’s no more TV shows like ‘Gunsmoke’ or ‘Bonanza’ or ‘The Virginian’ or ‘I Love Lucy’ or ‘Andy Griffith.' [I] said people are too interested in homosexual activities. They’re too interested in the wife swap TV shows and the shows that are not morally uplifting. That’s the problem.”

Asked to explain what he meant, Merrill said, “I meant what I said. People are too interested in anything that is not uplifting, edifying. They’re too busy being preoccupied with homosexual activities and the wife swap shows."

He declined to give examples of how Americans are too preoccupied with “homosexual activities.”

Merrill said there are no longer shows “that are based on biblical foundations. ...Shows that promote family and culture with a father, a mother and children based on biblical teachings and biblical principles on which our nation was founded."

The secretary of state and former state House member is among four candidates vying for the Republican nomination to challenge Sen. Doug Jones. Merrill’s Republican rivals include U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne of Fairhope, former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville and state Rep. Arnold Mooney, R-Shelby County.