Carl Paladino on Eric Holder on Tape: "F*** Him"

Updated 6:56 p.m. Eastern Time

Just hours after conceding that he has perhaps "stepped on [his] message" a little bit while on the campaign trail recently, a video has surfaced that will force New York Republican gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino to confront his own delivery of a different kind of message - to Attorney General Eric Holder.

The clip, which was acquired this afternoon by National Journal's "Hotline On Call," was taken at a March 26 town hall meeting in Tappan, New York. In it, Paladino responds to a question about Eric Holder's (since-abandoned) plan to try terrorist Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in a New York City court by dropping the "F"-word.

"F*** him. F*** him," Paladino says on the video, when asked what his response would be if the attorney general decided "to hold terrorist trials in Manhattan," if he were elected Governor.

Paladino has come under fire recently for a string of erratic incidents, the likes of which include making anti-gay slurs at a synagogue, accusing Albany lawmaker Sheldon Silver of being a criminal, and threatening a reporter with physical violence.

In a radio interview today, Paladino appeared to attempt damage control for the hit his image has taken as a result of these incidents, saying that "it just seems like there's a continuous misstatement, or abuse or exaggeration by certain members of the press that just keep chasing us around." (UPDATE: Paladino has now issued an apology over his comments on gays.)

Watch the full video of Paladino's comments below. (The clip in question starts at the 2:10 mark.)

Lucy Madison

Lucy Madison is a political reporter for CBSNews.com.

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