During yesterday's live broadcast of The Five, political commentator, USA Today columnist and Fox News co-host Bob Beckel suggested San Francisco's nudists and nude activists prefer their au naturale lifestyle due to childhood sexual abuse.

During the program, host Dana Perino got the discussion fired up, saying: "What happened to these people as children that they don't want to wear any clothes?" One panelist, Andrea Totaros, suggested that those protesting the nudity ban by stripping down were "desperate for attention" — which may be true, but it's not as desperate for attention as Beckel's comment, which made even the acidic Fox News hosts balk.

Beckel explained: "Most of them were gang banged, probably." He then shrugged off the comment with a laugh saying, "I don't know, they could have had sexual assault on them." He followed his comments by claiming he "didn't use any crude language." Referring to his use of the term "gang bang" he said, "there's nothing wrong with that," before making a weak apology for the folks at the FCC.

Here's the clip, which happened live a few hours before the Board of Supervisors voted yesterday:

At the moment, the clip has yet to show up on The Five's website or in transcripts from yesterday's program.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors later voted 6-5 to pass legislation that will make it illegal for anyone over the age of five to expose their genitals, perineum, or anal region on any public street, sidewalk, parklet, plaza, or while riding public transit in the city. The nudity ban requires a second vote to officially pass and there is a federal lawsuit in the works claiming the ban infringes on nudists' right to free speech.

Previously:
Photos Of Protesters Getting Naked After Nudity Ban Passes [NSFW]
How Many Activists Will Expose Themselves Before San Francisco Strips Nudists' Rights?
Lady Activist Strips Naked During Committee Meeting, Calls Wiener 'Fascist' [NSFW]
All Nudity Ban Coverage on SFist