The context of the conversation was the response that Rick Santorum gave to a question from a gay soldier in Iraq, suggesting that he would be grandfathered into the military but he would reinstate Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. To Hayes, it was “the applause that Rick Santorum’s answer got” that was disturbing and indicative that, much as the Tea Party and libertarian factions of the party were socially liberal, “the base is still very hung up on cultural issues.” Roberts agreed, in much stronger terms, decrying Republicans who “love to stand and wave their military support all the time” but when asked to support them don’t. Roberts likened the ideology to wanting to “build a time machine and go back in time– no women voting, slavery was cool…” The comment elicited a laugh that continued into the claim, which both found comical, that Santorum implied that sexual activity simply had no place in the lives of soldiers.