Huckabee snipes back at Obama’s Iran joke

by Ben Kamisar - 04/27/15 2:24 PM ET

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a possible GOP White House contender, shot back at President Obama Monday for mocking him at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner over the weekend.

{mosads}The joke stemmed from Huckabee’s comment last week that Americans shouldn’t join the military under Obama because of his “open hostility toward the Christian faith.”

At Saturday’s annual dinner, which includes a comedic speech from the president, Obama jumped on that remark, making a comparison to the letter that 47 senators sent to Iran to tell them that Congress wouldn’t accept a bargain over its nuclear program without input from lawmakers.

“Mike Huckabee recently said people shouldn’t join our military until a true conservative is elected President,” Obama said.
“Think about that. It was so outrageous, 47 ayatollahs wrote a letter trying to explain to Huckabee how our system works.”

“At the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, President Obama used the Ayatollahs of Iran to make a joke at my expense. Fair enough — the President is actually better at comedy than leading the nation.” Huckabee posted on Facebook.

“Meanwhile, at the nuclear negotiating table, the Ayatollahs are making a joke of President Obama and Secretary Kerry and endangering Israel and our national security. We need a President who will lead with moral clarity and not capitulate to our enemies.”

Huckabee criticized Obama on Twitter for misquoting him. He also said that Obama shouldn’t be accusing others of not understanding the Constitution, as many conservatives believe Obama’s recent immigration executive orders are unconstitutional.

Obama misquoted me at #WHCD. I want the brave people who join the military to have a competent Prez who's not hostile to religious liberty.

— Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) April 27, 2015

The one person at #WHCD who should not joke about others' knowledge of "how the system works" is Obama. #UnconstitutionalExecutiveAmnesty

— Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) April 27, 2015