AMES, Iowa — Herman Cain says America needs to lighten up.
The presidential candidate was asked during the Iowa presidential debate Thursday if he was really serious when he said on the campaign trail that he wanted a 20-foot barbed wire electrified fence to help curb illegal immigration. (RELATED: Gingrich on super committee: ‘As dumb an idea as Washingt has come up with’)
“America has got to learn how to take a joke,” Cain, the former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza, said to the laughter of the audience, in one of the more memorable lines of the evening.
Turning serious, Cain cited four immigration solutions he would embrace. Cain said the US. should secure its borders, enforce existing laws, promote a path to citizenship and empower states to deal with immigration.
“It turns out that America could be a nation with high fences and wide open doors,” Cain quipped.