Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson defended biological reality even as he defended himself against the perception that he is transphobic.

Carson outraged some San Francisco HUD staffers with his remarks about “big, hairy men” pretending to be women so they could get into women’s shelters. Appearing on Friday night’s edition of “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” the former neurosurgeon and presidential candidate added context to his statement before explaining that his Christian faith doesn’t allow him to hate anyone, but it does compel him to belief in “Biblical principles.”

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“I simply pointed out the fact that, you know, we have to have policies that take into consideration everybody’s rights,” said Carson. “I say everybody has equal rights. Nobody gets extra rights.”

The HUD secretary spoke about women’s groups telling him they are “uncomfortable” with the current policy to “accept a person’s designation of a gender regardless of their physical characteristics.”

While complying with the 2012 equal access law, Carson said his department intends to leave the rest up to local jurisdictions.

“The federal government doesn’t need to be telling people who is a man or who is a woman,” he said. “That’s a decision that they can make by themselves. And that’s basically what we’re saying. And I quoted, you know, a group that came to me and they were very upset and they said, you know, a big hairy man comes in here and he says he’s a woman and that upsets us because many of us are trying to escape from that. And I’m simply saying we ought to take them into consideration also.”

Carson, as a former healthcare professional, then responded to Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s question about biological reality:

“I wonder if you could clarify, if someone decides to change his or her gender, does that mean that that person’s gender automatically changes?” asked Carlson. “In other words, if I say I am a woman, am I?”

“Obviously it doesn’t,” said Carson. “You know, if I wake up tomorrow and I feel like I’m Chinese, it doesn’t necessarily make me Chinese. You know, there are biological and scientific issues that have to be dealt with, too.”

“But, regardless of that, you know, I have always said we are supposed to serve all the people and you know, somebody wants to be transgender, that’s fine,” he continued. “We try to serve them as well. But my point is we also have to take into consideration the other people. And I have offered transgender groups an opportunity to let me know what their solution would be so that everybody’s rights are observed. I haven’t heard one peep.”

“What’s that like being dismissed as a bigot? How would you respond to that?” asked the Fox News host. (RELATED: San Francisco HUD Employees Trash Ben Carson For Worrying About Big, Hairy Men In Women’s Shelters)

Carson compared the label to President Trump being “called a racist for virtually anything he does or doesn’t do.”

“You know, they have already made up their mind that I hate transgender people, which is completely untrue,” he said. “You know, the Bible tells us that we have to love everybody and that Jesus died for everybody. And you truly believe that, but it also tells you that if you stick to Biblical principles you will be persecuted, so I am not surprised at that either. But it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t always continue to try to do what is right and let the chips fall where they may.”