Mike Huckabee: Beyond the Pale in The New Yorker

Sari Weintraub — June 23, 2010 – 2:43 pm | Abusive Holocaust Rhetoric | Civil Rights | Election 2012 | Israel | Reproductive Rights | Republicans | Women's Issues Comments (0) Add a comment

NJDC has discussed in the past how former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is beyond the pale on social issues as well as Israel. Now he has elaborated on some of his beliefs for The New Yorker.

On a recent trip to Israel, he made a speech to the Knesset in which he told Israeli lawmakers that “[they] do not have a better friend on earth than Christians around the world.” This is not the first time Huckabee has made statements like this. Despite his staunch support for Israel’s security, Huckabee also said in the article that he opposes a negotiated two-state solution to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict—placing him in direct opposition to the policy supported by the Israeli government.

Later in the article, Huckabee discussed how his faith directly influenced his policies while in the Arkansas Governor’s mansion. This fits with his previous claims of him and his supporters needing to “take this nation back for Christ.” He called a woman’s legal right to choose “the holocaust of legalized abortion” - which diminishes the true meaning of the Holocaust—and said that the “horror” he felt about this legal right was one of his motivating factors for going from the ministry to politics.

Huckabee is also an ardent opponent of gay rights and same-sex marriage. As governor, he passed laws preventing gay people from adopting children or becoming foster parents, and he frequently declares his support for a Constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.  According to Huckabee, homosexuality is not only “sinful and unnatural,” but there is also an “ick factor.” Apparently, the standard bearer of the GOP thinks homosexuals are “ick[y]” and uses his disgust to deny them the same civil rights as heterosexuals. Huckabee has since offered an explanation for the use of that phrase, however he has not apologized despite the outcry from gay and lesbian advocacy groups.

Thomas Jefferson wrote that there must be a “wall of separation between Church and State.” Huckabee appears to think differently.  For more insight into Huckabee’s views, read the full profile here.        

 

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