New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie vetoed a bill last Friday that would have made his state the eighth in the US to allow same-sex marriages.

But the Republican governor, who is widely thought to be a potential vice presidential pick for the Republican nominee, says his veto was not a move designed to gain favor with his party's socially conservative base.

'I would not compromise my principles for politics,' he tells CNN's Piers Morgan in an interview that airs tonight (21 February).  '... Will it become politically unpopular to have the position I’m having? If it does, so be it. I don’t compromise my principles for politics.'

On the same day as his veto, the Maryland House of Delegates narrowly passed a same-sex marriage bill that is expected to also be passed by the Senate and signed into law by Gov. Martin O'Malley.

Christie is in favor of putting gay marriage before a vote of the people and recent polling suggests voters are slightly in favor of the marriages.

Asked by Morgan if his view against gay marriage - he favors civil unions - makes him a bigot, Christie said: 'It’s my belief, it’s my core belief. And I tell people that. And my friends, whether they be homosexual or not, they know me and they know I’m not bigoted.'