Huckabee said Saturday that by signing the nuclear deal with Iran, Obama is leading Israelis “to the door of the oven” with Iran, likely referencing gas chambers that systematically killed Jews during World War II.
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Huckabee’s remarks triggered a round of backlash from fellow candidates, including Hillary Clinton and Republican opponent Jeb Bush.
Huckabee may have simply been trying to push Trump out of the headlines, Obama said, adding that that doesn’t reflect positively on his leadership.
Huckabee claimed he’s received support from Holocaust survivors and their children in recent days, despite intense public blowback for his comments, and even doubled down, once again, on his criticism of the Iran agreement. “The particular comments of Mr. Huckabee…would be considered ridiculous if it weren’t so sad”, Mr. Obama says.
The agreement, sealed on 14 July, places curbs on Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for relief from US and worldwide sanctions, ending more than a decade of tensions.
Obama has long been irked by sharp edged Republican rhetoric, which has cast him as foreigner born in Kenya, and more recently, a state sponsor of terror.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also expressed his extreme condemnation for Obama’s Iran deal, as have numerous other pro-Israel politicians in the United States.
He continued: “This is the most idiotic thing, this Iran deal”.
Of course, Hillary would like to dictate the boundaries of political dialogue that are suitable to her up to and including roping off reporters.
“The Republican Party is shocked, and yet that arises out of a culture where those kinds of outrageous attacks have become far too commonplace and get circulated nonstop through the Internet and talk radio and news outlets”, Obama said.
Until now, he’s largely limited his commentary to policy differences with Republicans, often sidestepping the names of specific candidates. “They used that very word”, Huckabee said during the program.
In New York, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) said it was “disheartening” that Huckabee invoked the Holocaust in reference to the U.S. relationship with Israel.
“Cavalier analogies to the Holocaust are unacceptable”, Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, said in a statement on Sunday.
Mr Huckabee said “this Iran deal should be rejected by both Democrats and Republicans”.
Real estate mogul and reality television personality Donald Trump recently faced an onslaught of criticism after saying Arizona Sen. “The American people deserve better”.
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“These are leaders in the Republican Party”, he said.
