North Carolina-based evangelist Franklin Graham, who’s made headlines with his tough talk about Muslims, LGBTQ persons and former President Barack Obama, invoked Jesus’ harsh words about the Pharisees Thursday to defend his own judgmental tone.

Asked during an interview with WBTV (channel 3) about some of his comments that are perceived as less-than-loving, Graham said that “Jesus wasn’t real loving sometimes. He called the Pharisees vipers, snakes, whitewashed tombs. So, you have to understand the world in which we live is dangerous.”

Graham, who heads the Charlotte-based Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, used some strong but familiar language during the rest of the 4-minute interview, telling the TV station’s Christine Sperow that House Bill 2 was needed to halt “weirdos that want to force themselves into girls’ locker rooms and to women’s bathrooms.” It was unclear whether he was using the term to include transgender persons.

He repeated a past charge that it was Democratic Mayor Jennifer Roberts of Charlotte, not the Republican-controlled legislature or then-GOP Gov. Pat McCrory who created the controversy surrounding House Bill 2 – a law that has caused some companies, sports leagues and entertainers to boycott North Carolina.