Huckabee Vows to Leave GOP If It Doesn't Fight Same-Sex Marriage
Thursday, 09 Oct 2014 04:11 PM
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee threatened to leave the GOP and run for the White House in 2016 as an independent if Republicans "capitulate" and support same-sex marriage.
"If the Republicans want to lose guys like me, and a whole bunch of still God-fearing, Bible-believing people, go ahead and just abdicate on this issue — and go ahead and say abortion doesn't matter, either," Huckabee told Tim Wildmon, president of theAmerican Family Association, on Wildmon's "Today's Issues" radio show. "Because at that point, you lose me, I'm gone."
"I'll become an independent," he vowed in an interview on Tuesday. "I'llstart finding people that have guts to stand. I'm tired of this."
Huckabee's declaration came a day after the Supreme Court cleared the way for a huge expansion of gay marriage in as many as 30 states and the District of Columbia.
States affected by Monday's action were Wisconsin, Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, and Virginia. Officials in those states had appealed lower court rulings to preserve their bans.
Couples in six other states — Colorado, Kansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia, and Wyoming — should be able to get married in soon, since those states would be bound by the same appellate rulings that have been on hold.
On Thursday, Justice Anthony Kennedy corrected anerror that mistakenly blocked the start of same-sex marriage in Nevada. The order had been issued the day before.
Huckabee, 59, who won the Iowa caucuses during his 2008 presidential run, is among several Republicans looking at 2016.
Others include Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Marco Rubio of Florida, Rep. Peter King of New York — as well as former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
Many possible candidates slammed the Supreme Court's rulings — Cruz vowed to introduce aconstitutional amendment that would prevent federal courts or government from voiding state laws on marriage — but others considered the their more strategic implications.
"We don't have to agree with the decision, but as long as we're not against it we should be OK," a top aide on a possible GOP contender told Time magazine.
And Walker, who is in a tough re-election battle, declared after the court's ruling that the fight to prevent same-sex marriage was "over in Wisconsin."
In his interview, which Wildmon co-hosed with Ed Vitigliano, AFA's research directory, Huckabee charged that the GOP "establishment" has waved the "white flag of surrender" on gay marriage.
"I'm utterly exacerbated with Republicans and the so-called leadership of the Republicans who have abdicated on this issue, when if theycontinue this direction they guarantee they're going to lose every election in the future ," Huckabee said. "Guarantee it — and I don't understand why they want to lose.
"A lot Republicans, particularly in the establishment and those who live on the either Left Coast or those who live up in the bubbles of New York and Washington, are convinced that if we don't capitulate on the same-sex marriage issue and if we don't raise the white flag of surrender and just accept the inevitable, then we're going to be losers.
"It is the absolute opposite of that," Huckabee said.
In a column on his website Thursday, the Fox News host further slammed the Supreme Court, charging that the justices on Monday "punted on same-sex marriage, and everyone got the boot."
Despite the court's move being "hailed as a huge victory by same-sex marriage activists," they "shouldn’t be happy with the court ducking its responsibility," Huckabee said.
Because gay marriage bans remain in 20 states, "we have two sets of laws, one voted on by citizens of the states and one imposed by judges.
"How does that jibe with the legal argument for same-sex marriage being equality under the law?" Huckabee asked. "Eventually, the Supreme Court will have to decide who has the power to make our laws: the people or unelected judges?
"The longer they put it off, the more divisiveness and confusion will fester and grow."
Huckabee then charged that the Supreme Court wasn't created "to find ways to rubber-stamp unconstitutional bills. It’s the court’s duty to protect the public from the consequences of their bad electoral decisions by blocking unconstitutional bills.
"Making hard decisions is never going to make you popular with everyone," he concluded. "But if you’re on the Supreme Court, that IS your job. And you knew the job was dangerous to your popularity when you took it."
Bloomberg contributed to this report.
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© 2014 Newsmax. All rights reserved."If the Republicans want to lose guys like me, and a whole bunch of still God-fearing, Bible-believing people, go ahead and just abdicate on this issue — and go ahead and say abortion doesn't matter, either," Huckabee told Tim Wildmon, president of the
"I'll become an independent," he vowed in an interview on Tuesday. "I'll
Huckabee's declaration came a day after the Supreme Court cleared the way for a huge expansion of gay marriage in as many as 30 states and the District of Columbia.
States affected by Monday's action were Wisconsin, Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, and Virginia. Officials in those states had appealed lower court rulings to preserve their bans.
Couples in six other states — Colorado, Kansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia, and Wyoming — should be able to get married in soon, since those states would be bound by the same appellate rulings that have been on hold.
On Thursday, Justice Anthony Kennedy corrected an
Huckabee, 59, who won the Iowa caucuses during his 2008 presidential run, is among several Republicans looking at 2016.
Others include Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Marco Rubio of Florida, Rep. Peter King of New York — as well as former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
Many possible candidates slammed the Supreme Court's rulings — Cruz vowed to introduce a
"We don't have to agree with the decision, but as long as we're not against it we should be OK," a top aide on a possible GOP contender told Time magazine.
And Walker, who is in a tough re-election battle, declared after the court's ruling that the fight to prevent same-sex marriage was "over in Wisconsin."
In his interview, which Wildmon co-hosed with Ed Vitigliano, AFA's research directory, Huckabee charged that the GOP "establishment" has waved the "white flag of surrender" on gay marriage.
"I'm utterly exacerbated with Republicans and the so-called leadership of the Republicans who have abdicated on this issue, when if they
"A lot Republicans, particularly in the establishment and those who live on the either Left Coast or those who live up in the bubbles of New York and Washington, are convinced that if we don't capitulate on the same-sex marriage issue and if we don't raise the white flag of surrender and just accept the inevitable, then we're going to be losers.
"It is the absolute opposite of that," Huckabee said.
In a column on his website Thursday, the Fox News host further slammed the Supreme Court, charging that the justices on Monday "punted on same-sex marriage, and everyone got the boot."
Despite the court's move being "hailed as a huge victory by same-sex marriage activists," they "shouldn’t be happy with the court ducking its responsibility," Huckabee said.
Because gay marriage bans remain in 20 states, "we have two sets of laws, one voted on by citizens of the states and one imposed by judges.
"How does that jibe with the legal argument for same-sex marriage being equality under the law?" Huckabee asked. "Eventually, the Supreme Court will have to decide who has the power to make our laws: the people or unelected judges?
"The longer they put it off, the more divisiveness and confusion will fester and grow."
Huckabee then charged that the Supreme Court wasn't created "to find ways to rubber-stamp unconstitutional bills. It’s the court’s duty to protect the public from the consequences of their bad electoral decisions by blocking unconstitutional bills.
"Making hard decisions is never going to make you popular with everyone," he concluded. "But if you’re on the Supreme Court, that IS your job. And you knew the job was dangerous to your popularity when you took it."
Bloomberg contributed to this report.
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