Tennessee Republican supports bill to ban first cousin marriages, but reminisces about his first cousin grandparents.

A Tennessee lawmaker on Tuesday admitted — totally unprompted — that his grandparents were first cousins while he discussed a marriage bill that aims to ban the practice.

"But for the existence of the current law, I would not be here," Tennessee State Rep. Gino Bulso (R) said. "Despite that, I think it's good legislation and I intend to support it."

Bulso was seemingly reminiscing about the current law, which allowed his grandparents to get married in the state in 1924.

“Oftentimes we debate whether we should actually say something, because we might regret something we say. And I'm gonna go ahead and say it,” Bulso said at a state House hearing.

“My grandparents came over to this country through Ellis Island in Italy back in the 1920s,” Bulso continued. “They settled in Lorain, Ohio, right south of Lake Erie next to Cleveland. And they were first cousins. But they couldn't get married in Ohio. So, back in 1924, they actually came down to Tennessee to get married.”