Fred Thompson Talks About His Diet

When Republican White House hopeful Fred Thompson heard he was going to a country-style restaurant in South Carolina, he said his eyes lit up, knowing a good Southern breakfast awaited.

"But doggone, they brought me in a fruit plate," Thompson said to laughs at Tommy's Country Ham House.

The former Tennessee senator has said his wife, Jeri, and others have talked up watching his cholesterol and weight, and to exercise more. He has said his visible weight loss is not health-related, and he's following a new eating plan at home: "If it tastes good, don't eat it."

Apparently the new diet extends to the campaign trail. Thompson said he would take that up with his staff.

Gazing across plates with the remnants of grits, sausage, bacon, biscuits and pancakes, Thompson said in his trademark drawl, "mighty good to be back in God's country."

"Folks knows what goes into a good breakfast," the TV actor said.

During the stop, he also repeated his criticism of rival Rudy Giuliani's support for sanctuary cities and the former New York mayor's fight against legislation he backed in the Senate.

"While I was voting and working for the passage of a bill that outlawed sanctuary cities, Mayor Giuliani was going to court to overturn the bill that we had just passed," Thompson said as he wrapped up a two-day swing through early voting South Carolina.

It was the second day Thompson has denounced leading Republicans on illegal immigration. He also erroneously repeated a claim that all of his opponents had supported a failed overhaul of the nation's immigration laws in the Senate this summer. Sen. John McCain of Arizona was the legislation's chief supporter.

In fact, none of the other Republican candidates supported McCain's immigration bill this year, with top candidates Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney criticizing the measure at various debates and campaign stops. Thompson's campaign said both supported Senate versions of the legislation before 2007.

On Wednesday, Thompson also expressed his support for a tough immigration measure sponsored by Iowa Rep. Steve King that would punish companies that hire illegal immigrants.

Under the measure, businesses could not take a tax deduction for wages paid to an illegal immigrant, a step Thompson said he supported "because it provides a disincentive to employers who hire undocumented workers."

King, a favorite with Iowa conservatives, has described torture at Abu Ghraib as "hazing," argued that living in Iraq is safer than in Washington and derided President Bush's guest worker immigration program as amnesty.