Christine O'Donnell Opts Out of Being Hare Krishna

Oct 2, 2010— -- In a 1999 television appearance, Delaware Republican Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell admitted to dabbling in several religions -- including witchcraft and Buddhism -- but said she skipped being a Hare Krishna because she couldn't give up meat.

On Friday night Bill Maher aired on his HBO show, "Real Time," the clip from his previous show, "Politically Incorrect."

"I would have become a Hare Krishna, but I didn't want to become a vegetarian," she said. "And that is honestly the reason why, because I'm Italian and I love meatballs."

O'Donnell appeared on the political talk show on 22 different episodes, and Maher has said he will air an embarrassing clip of O'Donnell every week until she agrees to appear on his show. This latest video is the third in his series of unflattering clips.

"It's like a hostage crisis," Maher said before airing the series of clips. "Every week you don't show up, I'm going to throw another body out."

Last week Maher and O'Donnell made headlines when the talk show host released a clip of O'Donnell claiming that evolution is a myth. This unflattering clip came a week after another "Politically Incorrect" clip, the now infamous footage of O'Donnell admitting to experimenting with witchcraft.

"I dabbled into witchcraft -- I never joined a coven. But I did, I did. I dabbled into witchcraft. I hung around people who were doing these things. I'm not making this stuff up. I know what they told me they do," she said.

"One of my first dates with a witch was on a satanic altar, and I didn't know it. I mean, there's little blood there and stuff like that," she said. "We went to a movie and then had a midnight picnic on a satanic altar."

O'Donnell has responded to the witchcraft video, telling Fox News' Sean Hannity that many of her past statements do not reflect her current opinions, explaining that her witchcraft phase was an act of "teenage rebellion."

"Some people dabble in drugs to rebel, that's how I rebelled. You know? But who didn't do some questionable things in high school and who doesn't regret the '80s to some extent? I certainly do. And I most certainly regret bringing it up to Bill Maher."

O'Donnell's outspokenness on conservative social values, particularly her support for abstinence and opposition to the use of condoms and masturbation, has set her apart from many prominent Tea Party candidates, who've primarily focused on economic issues.

O'Donnell told TV talk show host Phil Donahue in 2002 that "condoms will not protect you from AIDS." And in a 2006 appearance on "The O'Reilly Factor" she said efforts to promote condom use are "anti-human."

She has also received new attention for comments she made in 1996 on MTV's "Sex in the '90s" in which she likened masturbation and pornography to adultery.

Recently O'Donnell has come under fire for education claims that she made on LinkedIn, an online networking site, where the candidate allegedly claimed that she attended a course at Oxford University and completed a fellowship at the Claremont Institute.

"Ms. O'Donnell has clarified any questions about her education and the LinkedIn page," O'Donnell spokeswoman Diana Banister told The Associated Press.