Former Arkansas Governor and Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee drew the ire of President Barack Obama and fellow Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush after he criticised the president's nuclear deal with Iran, even going as far as comparing it to the horrific events leading to the Holocaust.
Obama got upset over Huckabee's statement that he is "marching the Israelis to the door of the oven" when he agreed to the nuclear deal with Iran, according to Fox News. When asked about it during his visit to Ethiopia, Obama said Huckabee might simply be saying things to "get attention."
He added that Huckabee's swipes were part of a "pattern" of remarks from candidates that "would be considered ridiculous if it weren't so sad."
The other candidates Obama was referring to were Donald Trump, who questioned Senator John McCain's "war hero" record, and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who warned that the nuclear deal could lead to "tens of millions of Americans dying."
Obama criticised the candidates for violating the American tradition of not playing "fast and loose" on topics of grave concern like foreign policy. He expressed hopes that whoever takes over the White House after his term will be someone who is capable of maintaining decorum and honesty.
"We have robust debates, we look at the facts," Obama said. "We just don't fling out ad hominem attacks like that because it doesn't help inform the American people."
Cruz quickly rebuffed the president, saying it was "particularly sad today that President Obama chose to engage in gutter politics – attacking Mike Huckabee by name, attacking me – both of us for standing up against this catastrophic deal – rather than defending the merits."
"Governor Huckabee has been a strong and powerful voice in defence of the Jewish people," Cruz said. "He is exactly right to highlight the threat that the Obama nuclear deal poses to the nation of Israel. It is a sad day when the president of the United States cannot or will not see this truth."
Surprisingly, former Florida Governor Bush also blasted Huckabee, a fellow Republican, calling his Holocaust reference "just wrong."
"I think we need to tone down the rhetoric, for sure," Bush said at a campaign stop in Florida. "The use of that kind of language is just wrong."
"This is not the way we're going to win elections and that's not how we're going to solve problems," Bush added. "So it's an unfortunate remark, I'm not quite sure why he felt compelled to say it."
Cruz swiftly came to Huckabee's defence against Bush. "It is not a question of rhetoric," he said. "It's a question of speaking the truth."
He said Republican candidates need to stop attacking other Republican candidates.
"Direct your fire to the real threats facing America—including the threat of an Iran-led by radical theocratic zealots who chant 'Death to America' and 'Death to Israel'," he said.
Rick Santorum, another Republican presidential hopeful, also does not see anything wrong with Huckabee's statements. "Frankly, I'm a little shocked that this is getting the kind of pushback that it is. It is clear that this is Iran's intent," Santorum said on Newsmax TV. "Iran is very clear that they want to destroy the state of Israel, wipe out the Jews in Israel."
In fact, Santorum said he is very concerned with Obama's side deal, which would have the United States defend Iran against Israel if ever the Jewish state decides to launch a cyberattack on Iran. Santorum laments the fact that America is providing Iran with weapons and money "so they can promote terrorism," and the moment another nation decides to fight back, America is going to protect them "as they go about trying to systematically destroy all of our allies."
Meanwhile, Trump's campaign head Michael Cohen told CNN that they can relate to Huckabee's statements and does not find anything offensive about it because "we've been there."
"My father is a Holocaust survivor, and I can tell you, there's that old statement, 'Never again,'" Cohen shared. "What Trump is trying to say is a nuclear Iran is the destruction of this world. What we need is a strong America. If you have a strong America, you have a strong world. If you have a weak America, we're going to have a weak world."
