Rep. Paul Broun, R-Ga., a Republican U.S. Senate candidate, asserted over the weekend that the United States shouldn’t support Israel just for political reasons, but because God will curse America if we don’t.

Speaking at a GOP primary debate in Gainesville on Sunday, Broun told told attendees and members of the Gall County Republican Party that the United States must maintain its strong ties to Israel because in the Bible, God promised Abraham that He would curse Abraham's enemies.

“It’s absolutely imperative that we support Israel -- our brothers and sisters in the Middle East -- not only because of the geopolitical reasons there, which are strong enough in themselves, but because of a promise God made to Abraham,” Broun said, citing Genesis 12:3. “He said, ‘I’ll bless those that bless you and I’ll curse those who curse you.’ America must support Israel to continue to be blessed.”

At the same debate, Broun told the audience that he was a strict constitutionalist and claimed that “today’s federal government is largely unconstitutional in its scope and nature.” He went on to say that if elected to the Senate, he would only vote for legislation that was not only constitutional, but biblical as well.

“I am a proven conservative, consistent constitutionalist. There are four C’s that describe who I am and what drives me: Consistent, conservative, constitutionalist, Christian,” Broun said, explaining that he would only vote for legislation that followed these four principles.

First, Broun said, he would ask if any piece of legislation he encountered is constitutional. Then, he would ask himself, “does it fit the Judeo-Christian biblical principles our country was founded upon?” Broun said he would also ask if the nation needed and could afford the proposed legislation.

Broun’s statements attracted the attention of Buzzfeed and the Raw Story soon after video from the debate appeared online. This is far from the first time that Broun’s stances have earned him national attention. One week after President Barack Obama was elected in 2008, Broun compared Obama’s plan for a civilian national service corps to Hitler’s militarization of Nazi Germany. Broun has in the past called the theories of evolution and the Big Bang "lies straight from the Pit of Hell” and insisted that global warming is a hoax perpetuated to "destroy America."

Watch Broun speak at the GOP debates below. His comments on Israel and the United States begin at 55:07.

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