Former 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang speaks by video feed during the fourth and final night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Aug. 20, 2020. Photo: 2020 Democratic National Convention / Pool via Reuters / File.

Ex-2020 Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang, a likely entrant in the race to succeed New York Mayor Bill de Blasio next year, responded on Twitter on Thursday to questions about past comments opposing circumcision.

“I have attended multiple friends’ brises and felt privileged to do so,” Yang tweeted. “I believe in religious freedom. This is every parent’s personal decision and not a role of government.”

https://twitter.com/AndrewYang/status/1344657999638487041?s=20

Yang, who filed paperwork last week to run in the upcoming mayoral contest, the Democratic primary for which will be held in June with the general election following in November, was responding to Ben Max, executive editor at the Gotham Gazette.

Earlier, Max had tweeted, “Just learned that @AndrewYang is against circumcision, which may not be helpful in a Democratic primary in New York City.”

Max also linked to a 2019 Daily Beast article, in which Yang spoke out against the practice. 

“I’m highly aligned with the intactivists,” Yang told the outlet, referring to anti-circumcision activists. “History will prove them even more correct.”

He added that, if elected president, he would “inform parents that it is entirely up to them whether their infant gets circumcised, and that there are costs and benefits either way.”

The back-and-forth is not the first time circumcision has entered the world of New York mayoral politics. In 2015, Mayor de Blasio eased regulations over the controversial practice of metzitzah b’peh used in some ritual circumcisions.

The former limitations, introduced by de Blasio’s predecessor Michael Bloomberg, had required parents to sign a consent form before the ritual.