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Mike Huckabee presidential campaign, 2016/Federalism
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 Mike Huckabee |
Former Governor of Arkansas (1996-2007) Former Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas (1993-1996) |
 Republican candidate: |
2028 • 2024 • 2020 • 2016 |
This page was current as of the 2016 election.
Legislature
- Mike Huckabee wrote an op-ed in The Reno Gazette-Journal on December 10, 2015, to advocate for states’ rights. “Why does the federal government still own and manage 84 percent of Nevada, 66 percent of Utah, and 53 percent of Oregon? When we deprive states and citizens the power to control their destiny, we undermine the essence of our Constitution,” Huckabee wrote.[2]
- Huckabee wrote an op-ed for Fox News on October 1, 2015, arguing for major reforms in how Congress operates. He called for term limits for legislators and judges, banning former members of Congress from becoming lobbyists, withholding pay if there was no budget and requiring members of Congress to resign if they were seeking a different elected office.[3]
- In 2015, conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt asked Republican candidates on his show if they would be willing to use the Senate "nuclear option" in order to get rid of the filibuster and repeal Obamacare. Mike Huckabee was one of several candidates who said he would do so.[4]
Judiciary
- During the September 2015 GOP debate, Mike Huckabee said he would absolutely have a litmus test for supreme justices. He then outlined the questions he would ask: “Number one, I’d ask do you think that the unborn child is a human being or is it just a blob of tissue? I’d want to know the answer to that. I’d want to know do you believe in the First Amendment, do you believe that religious liberty is the fundamental liberty around which all the other freedoms of this country are based? And I’d want to know do you really believe in the Second Amendment, do you believe that we have an individual right to bear arms to protect ourselves and our family and to protect our country? And do you believe in the Fifth and the 14th Amendment? Do you believe that a person, before they’re deprived of life and liberty, should in fact have due process and equal protection under the law? Because if you do, you’re going to do more than defund Planned Parenthood.” During the same debate, Huckabee also continued to stand with Kim Davis, a Kentucky clerck who refused to give out same-sex marriage licenses following the Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court decision to legalize same-sex marriage. Said Huckabee, “The courts can’t make a law. They can interpret one. They can review one. They can’t implement it. They can’t force it.” He later said, “If the court can just make a decision and we just all surrender to it, we have what Jefferson said was judicial tyranny.” [5]
- Huckabee suggested on September 10, 2015, that Dred Scott v. Sanford, a nineteenth century Supreme Court case declaring people of African descent could not be American citizens, was still the “law of the land.” Comparing Obergefell v. Hodges to Dred Scott, Huckabee said, “The Dred Scott decision of 1857 still remains to this day the law of the land which says that black people aren’t fully human. Does anybody still follow the Dred Scott Supreme Court decision?” Dred Scott was nullified in 1868 by the Fourteenth Amendment.[6][7]
- While visiting Arkansas on September 10, 2015, Huckabee said county clerks could also deny marriage licenses to same-sex couples because the Arkansas legislature had not changed its laws following the Obergefell decision in June 2015. Clerks should “follow the only law they have in front of them,” Huckabee said.[8]
- Huckabee reaffirmed his support for Supreme Court term limits on July 5, 2015, during an appearance on CNN's "State of the Union." Although Huckabee did not define what the length of the term limit should be, he said he doubted it was "a healthy thing" for a Supreme Court justice to "have outlived...six or seven presidents."[9]
- In June 2014, Huckabee argued that a decision made by the Supreme Court should not necessarily be the final outcome of an issue. He said, "And one of the things that I do not understand is why more Americans have not rallied in opposition to the notion that just because the Court says something that that is the final word. Have we not read our Constitution? Have we not reminded ourselves that we have three branches of government, not one, and all of those three branches are equal branches of government. One is them is not superior to either of the other two, and certainly not to both of the other two. This notion that when the Supreme Court says something it’s the last word is fundamentally unconstitutional and wrong. It is the Supreme Court, not the supreme branch."[10]
- In an email to supporters in June 2010, Huckabee said he was "not too happy about" Elena Kagan's nomination. He added, "With a conservative President, you're going to get strict constructionist judges like Scalia, an Alito or a Roberts - with a liberal President, you're going to judges like Sotomayor, a Breyer or eventually maybe a Kagan. Elections have consequences."[11]
- Huckabee opposed Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court. In May 2009, Huckabee said in a statement, "The appointment of Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court is the clearest indication yet that President Obama's campaign promises to be a centrist and think in a bi-partisan way were mere rhetoric. Sotomayor comes from the far left and will likely leave us with something akin to the 'Extreme Court' that could mark a major shift. The notion that appellate court decisions are to be interpreted by the "feelings" of the judge is a direct affront of the basic premise of our judicial system that is supposed to apply the law without personal emotion. If she is confirmed, then we need to take the blindfold off Lady Justice."
First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
- On October 21, 2015, Mike Huckabee said the British proposal to close mosques ran the risk of running afoul of the U.S. because of the Constitution. “You better have hard evidence, and then, you better take it through the judicial process, you just can’t make that arbitrary, unilateral decision to close down a place of worship, even if you find that what’s going on in that place of worship is absolutely repulsive to you,” he said.[12]
- On October 2015, Huckabee criticized President Obama for not highlighting that Christians were targeted in a mass shooting at an Oregon community college. “The president always wants to be defensive and tell us there is no such thing as Islamic terrorism. These aren’t religious people even though we all know they are. But when it seems that the target is a Christian, he conveniently just ignores it, denies it or just moves on to something else. I do think it is incredibly significant that there was a religious intent and motive in this shooter’s attitude,” said Huckabee.[13]
- Huckabee expressed support for Kim Davis, the Kentucky county clerk refusing to issue licenses to same-sex couples, in a statement on September 2, 2015. “I spoke with Kim Davis this morning to offer my prayers and support. I let her know how proud I am of her for not abandoning her religious convictions and standing strong for religious liberty. She is showing more courage and humility than just about any federal office holder in Washington," he said.[14]
- Huckabee began a “Free Kim Davis Now” petition on his presidential campaign website after Davis was jailed on September 3, 2015. The petition read, “Dear President Obama, Attorney General Lynch, & Judge Bunning: Immediately release Kim Davis from federal custody. Exercising Religious Liberty should never be a crime in America. This is a direct attack on our God-given, constitutional rights."[15]
- On September 3, 2015, Huckabee tweeted, “What a world, where Hillary Clinton isn't in jail but #KimDavis is. #ImWithKim.”[16]
- On September 6, 2015, Huckabee questioned whether there was a double standard for liberals and conservatives engaging in civil disobedience. After suggesting President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder had ignored the Defense of Marriage Act, Huckabee said, “[D]id they get put in law for ignoring the law? They most certainly did not. So when do liberals get to choose which laws they support but a county clerk in Kentucky who, acting on her Christian faith, is criminalized, jailed without bail because she acted on her conscience and according to the only law in front of her.”[17]
- In an interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos on September 13, 2015, Huckabee argued that Davis denying marriage licenses to same-sex couples was different from a hypothetical clerk denying marriage licenses to interracial couples following Loving v. Virginia in 1967. “It’s not the same, George — not even close. Because in Loving, you still had a marriage which was between a man and a woman. It was equal protection, but it didn’t redefine marriage,” Huckabee said. He added, “It’s a very different equation altogether, because this is a redefinition. Marriage is not defined in the federal constitution at all — it’s a matter for the states. And applying the 14th Amendment to the equality…of men and women in their relationship in marriage is totally different than redefining marriage.”[18]
- In June 2014, Huckabee supported the Supreme Court's ruling in the Hobby Lobby case. In a Facebook post, Huckabe wrote, "Only in the la-la land of left would it sound reasonable that government has created not only a 'right' to take the life of a child, but the obligation of providing it, even when it violated the First Amendment rights of that employer. The government can't say, 'you can have some religion, but only what the government agrees is sufficient.' The Hobby Lobby ruling is yet another repudiation of the overreaching dictates of the Obama administration and a good day for freedom."[19]
- In 2013, Huckabee spoke out against the Internal Revenue Service monitoring churches to ensure that they did not engage political speech. He said, "I think we need to recognize that it may be time to quit worrying so much about the tax code and start thinking more about the truth of the living God, and if it means that we give up tax-exempt status and tax deductions for charitable contributions, I choose freedom more than I choose a deduction that the government gives me permission to say what God wants me to say."[20]
Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA)
| "Huckabee on Indiana Law: 'This is a Manufactured Crisis By the Left'," April 1, 2015. |
- During an April 1 interview on Fox News' "The Kelly File," Mike Huckabee responded to Governor of Connecticut Dan Malloy's "comments stating that none of the people who would defend the Religious Freedom Restoration Act are qualified to be president of the United States." Huckabee replied, "No one is qualified to be president if they don't respect the First Amendment and religious liberty. This is the most bizarre thing. This is a manufactured crisis by the left. If they manufactured as many products as they do crises, like this one, which is an utterly phony attempt to create some kind of division, 92 million Americans who are jobless would have jobs. ...There's nothing in the RFRA that in any way says a thing about homosexuality, gay marriage."[21]
Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
- During the sixth Republican presidential primary debate, on January 14, 2016, Mike Huckabee discussed preventing gun violence: “Is there anything that can be done at the federal level to prevent guns from falling into the hands of criminals? Well, why don't we start by making sure the Justice Department never does an idiotic program like Fast and Furious where the U.S. Government put guns .in the hands of Mexican drug lords and end up killing one of our border agents. You know, they want to talk about law abiding citizens, I just find it amazing the President keeps saying the gun show loophole. There is no gun show loophole. I promise you I've been to more gun shows than President Obama. And, I've bought more weapons at them, and you fill out forms. … What the President keeps pushing are ideas that have never worked. … Of course, we want to stop gun violence, but the one common thing that has happened in most mass shootings is that they happened in gun- free zones where people who would have been law abiding citizens, who could have stood up and at least tried to stop it and we're not allowed to under the law.”[22]
- On January 5, 2016, Huckabee called President Obama’s gun control plan a "blatant, belligerent abuse of power." He said, "I will never bow down and surrender to Obama’s unconstitutional, radical, anti-gun agenda."[23]
- Following reports that President Obama would take executive action to create stricter gun regulations, Huckabee said on January 4, 2016, that Congress needs to “[g]row a spine” instead of passively resisting his policies. He added, “The common denominator with the mass shootings are gun-free zones and, in some cases, terrorism and mental health issues. It’s not that people who are law-abiding citizens have access to guns.”[24]
- On December 5, 2015, Huckabee compared restrictions on the Second Amendment to limitations on the First Amendment. “I’m wondering, would they [gun control advocates] be willing to accept some restrictions to the First Amendment, imposed on them by people like me. I don’t think so. This is absurd. Because it was not so much which weapon was used. It was the intent of the killer. … So, take away their assault weapons, look, a pencil is an assault weapon if you put it in the hand of somebody who wants to kill you.[25]
- On October 23, 2015, Huckabee called for the public to ignore any executive order requiring new background checks on gun buyers, or gun dealers should the White House issue one. "There should certainly be an absolute, unapologetic — just complete ignoring of such an order by those gun-shop owners, because the president can't make law. He just can't,” said Huckabee.[26]
- On Huckabee's 2016 presidential campaign website, he stated, "The Second Amendment is the last line of defense against tyranny and must be protected. I was the first governor in America to have a concealed handgun license, and I’m a lifetime member of the NRA." Huckaee added that, if president, he would "oppose new gun restrictions, registrations, regulations & mandates."[27]
- In his 2015 book, God, Guns, Grits, and Gravy, Huckabee said, "I’m a hunter. I hunt ducks, deer, and turkey and have also hunted antelope in Wyoming and pheasant in Iowa. But the Second Amendment isn’t about hunting. The Second Amendment is about preserving all the rights we possess as citizens.”[28]
- In 2006, Huckabee said he would support "castle doctrine" legislation in Arkansas allowing an individual to stand his ground and protect himself with deadly force.[29]
Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
- In June 2015, Mike Huckabee questioned whether the holding in Obergefell v. Hodges on marriage equality should be accepted as "the law of the land because there's no enabling legislation."[30] Huckabee had previously argued against the "notion of judicial supremacy" over states' rights in January 2015.[31]
- According to a 2007 profile of Huckabee by FOX News, Huckabee "would have the federal government overrule state abortion and marriage laws."[32]
Crime and justice
- On his podcast, January 5, 2016, Mike Huckabee said that, although the individuals occupying a building in Oregon to protest the federal government’s control of land in the western United States are “extremists,” the issue that they are highlighting is important. He said, “Now I know the media and left are going to try and paint everyone who opposes overbearing federal land management as violent, right-wing crazies, but it’s funny how they didn’t dismiss protesters who occupied Wall Street as left-wing crazies. But don’t let the feds off the hook that easily. The actions of a handful of extremists don’t negate a very serious issue. ... With the rise of big government and the growing political power of the radical environmental movement, we now have land management bureaucrats who know, and care nothing, about farmin’ or ranchin’, but who gladly put the echo cause of the month ahead of the rights of those who have lived and worked on these lands for generations. I want to be clear, there’s no right to break the law. There’s no right to trespass or occupy government property. I’m not defending that tactic at all. It’s unlawful and counterproductive. But western state residents do have the right to be angry at the way the federal government denies their basic rights.”[33]
- During a December 2007 interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, Huckabee was asked if it were true that he "oversaw 1,033 pardons and commutations of prisoners, including 12 murders?" Huckabee responded, "I actually carried out the death penalty 16 times more than any governor in my state’s history, and the crime rate in my state went down. If you look at the background of some of these, it meant that people who are 40 years old who had done a joyride or written a hot check when they were 18 had never been to prison. This wasn’t like I stood there with a key at the prison door and let people out. Background checks kept them from even so much as getting a job emptying the bedpans in a nursing home. And often the pardons were in order to let them get in the work force."[34]
- Attending the September 2007 All-American Presidential Forum at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland, Huckabee was asked what he would do to increase fairness in the criminal justice system for black and Hispanic men. Huckabee answered, in part, "We've got to quit locking up all the people that we're mad at and lock up the people that we're really afraid of, the people who are sexual predators and violent offenders. But the nonsense of three strikes and you're out has created a system that is overrun with people, and the cost is choking us. I would go for more drug courts and for a lot less incarceration of drug-addicted people."[35]
- In his 2007 book, From Hope to Higher Ground, Huckabee wrote, "Whether we should even have a death penalty is a tough issue. I believe some crimes deserve it, but that does not mean I like it. . . . Carrying out the death penalty was unquestionably the worst part of my job as governor. Seventeen times I sat by a phone with an open line to the death chamber for the two hours before the scheduled moment and waited for either a court-ordered reprieve or the report from the correction director that the procedure was ready to be carried out. . . . I never slept well those nights. I did the job that the law prescribed for me to do, but I hated every minute of it. I always felt that it was not only an execution of a person who committed a terrible murder; it was a reminder that through years of trials and appeals, no alternative was determined to be more appropriate than to end a human life."[36]
- According to a 1992 report in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Huckabee supported the death penalty for "people who try to kill law enforcement officers, terrorists, major drug dealers and anyone who transmits a deadly virus, such as AIDS."[37]
Black Lives Matter movement
- On August 18, 2015, Mike Huckabee criticized the message of the Black Lives Matter movement and suggested Martin Luther King Jr. would have been "appalled by the notion that we're elevating some lives above others."[38] The following week, King's son, Martin Luther King III, questioned Huckabee's statement. He said, "I think dad would be very proud of young people standing up to promote truth, justice and equality. I was perplexed by the comments, but people attempt to use dad for everything."[39]
- Huckabee reiterated his opposition to Black Lives Matter in an op-ed published by the Daily Caller on September 3, 2015, calling the movement a "mob" and condemning the anti-police rhetoric used by some protesters.[40]
| “ | From Baltimore to Beverly Hills, this movement has incited violence, chaos and disrespect. It’s time for President Obama and the Democratic Party to stop pandering to a movement that riots and supports violence against police. How many law enforcement deaths will it take for the political class to stand with the people who put their lives on the line to keep us safe?[41] | ” |
| —Mike Huckabee[40] | ||
Recent news
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See also
Footnotes
- ↑ USA Today, "Huckabee ends GOP presidential bid," February 1, 2016
- ↑ The Reno Gazette-Journal, "Huckabee: Nevadans, not DC bureaucrats, should control Nevada," December 10, 2015
- ↑ Fox News, "Huckabee: America needs a leader, not a loser," October 1, 2015
- ↑ Politico, "Filibuster divides GOP 2016 contenders," July 6, 2015
- ↑ Washington Post, "Full transcript: Undercard GOP debate," September 16, 2015
- ↑ BuzzFeed, "Huckabee: Dred Scott Decision 'Remains To This Day The Law Of The Land'," September 10, 2015
- ↑ Business Insider, "Mike Huckabee thinks there's a law that 'black people aren't fully human'," September 10, 2015
- ↑ Tri-City Herald, "Huckabee: Arkansas clerks could deny gay couple unions," September 10, 2015
- ↑ Breitbart, "Huckabee calls for term limits on Supreme Court," July 5, 2015
- ↑ Right Wing Watch, "Mike Huckabee's 2016 Themes? God In Textbooks And Attacks On Judges," June 23, 2014
- ↑ Examiner.com, "Gov Mike Huckabee weighs in on confirmation hearings for Elena Kagan," June 28, 2010
- ↑ Breitbart, "Huckabee: Revoking Passports From ISIS Fighters, Closing Mosques Might Not Be Constitutional," October 21, 2015
- ↑ The Blaze, "Mike Huckabee Is Asked How Obama Would Have Reacted If Oregon Gunman Had Targeted Muslims. Here’s His Answer," October 3, 2015
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Mike Huckabee offers support to Kentucky clerk who refuses to issue gay marriage licenses," September 2, 2015
- ↑ Mike Huckabee for President, "Free Kim Davis Now," accessed September 3, 2015
- ↑ Business Insider, "Mike Huckabee says Hillary Clinton should go to jail before the anti-gay marriage Kentucky clerk," September 3, 2015
- ↑ Daily Caller, "Huckabee: Gavin Newsom Ignored The Law, Nothing Happened, But When Conservatives Do They Go To Jail," September 6, 2015
- ↑ Independent Journal Review, "Mike Huckabee and George Stephanopoulos Get in Heated Tussle Over Kim Davis Controversy," September 14, 2015
- ↑ Facebook, "Mike Huckabee," June 30, 2014
- ↑ Huffington Post, "Mike Huckabee: Churches Should Reject Tax-Exempt Status," June 12, 2013
- ↑ Fox News, "Huckabee on Indiana Law: 'This is a Manufactured Crisis By the Left'," accessed April 16, 2015
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Transcript: Fox Business undercard Republican debate," January 14, 2016
- ↑ USA Today, "Republican 2016 candidates bash Obama's gun plan," January 5, 2016
- ↑ The Des Moines Register, "Huckabee to congressional Republicans: 'Grow a spine; stand up to Obama'," January 4, 2016
- ↑ Breitbart, "Huckabee: People Are Afraid To Report Suspicious Activity Because Of Political Correctness," December 5, 2015
- ↑ Newsmax, "Huckabee: Gun Stores Should Disobey an Obama Executive Order" October 26, 2015
- ↑ Huckabee 2016, "Firearms, Freedom & the Second Amendment," accessed July 6, 2015
- ↑ Huckabee, Mike. (2015) Gods, Guns, Grits, and Gravy. New York: St. Martin's Press. (page 28)
- ↑ Free Republic, "Huckabee supports 'castle doctrine' law," January 6, 2006
- ↑ Huffington Post, "Mike Huckabee Explains How To Resist Gay Marriage Decision," June 28, 2015
- ↑ Huffington Post, "Mike Huckabee: States Can Ignore Supreme Court On Gay Marriage," January 21, 2015
- ↑ Fox News, "Huckabee: The Biggest Big-Government Conservative," December 11, 2007
- ↑ BuzzFeed, "Huckabee On Oregon: Handful Of Extremists Shouldn’t Negate Federal Lands Issue," January 5, 2016
- ↑ CNN, "Transcript: CNN Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer," December 16, 2007
- ↑ The American Presidency Project, "Republican Candidates, All-American Presidential Forum at Morgan State University in Baltimore," September 27, 2007
- ↑ Huckabee, Mike. (2007). From Hope to Higher Ground. New York: Center Street. (page 86)
- ↑ BuzzFeed, "Mike Huckabee In 1992: Homosexuality Is 'Learned Behavior,' Death Penalty For Transmitting AIDS Virus Knowingly," May 6, 2015
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedHuck - ↑ Politico, "Martin Luther King III 'perplexed' by Huckabee comments," August 24, 2015
- ↑ 40.0 40.1 Daily Caller, "The Appalling Recklessness Of ‘Black Lives Matter’ And The Democratic Party," September 3, 2015
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
