It's "appalling" for President Barack Obama to compare the atrocities committed by the Islamic State (ISIS) to those committed by Christians during the Crusades, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee tells Newsmax.
"It would have been bad enough if it had been just an ad-lib, off-the-cuff remark, but this was scripted. He had his very famous, high-horse teleprompter that he was riding that day," Huckabee told J.D. Hayworth on "America's Forum" on
Newsmax TV on Tuesday.
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Obama has been facing harsh criticism for saying that Christians shouldn't be on a "high horse" in their response to the violent acts committed by ISIS, because Christians committed horrible deeds "in the name of Christ" during the Crusades, the Inquisition and slavery in the United States.
He made those comments at a National Prayer Breakfast that followed the brutal killing of Jordanian pilot Muath al-Kaseasbeh, who was burned alive by the terrorist group.
"For him to go back 1,000 years and somehow bring that into the focus of people being beheaded and burned alive today, and not being willing to acknowledge that Islamic jihadism is the No. 1 enemy we face in the world, but for him to try and say, 'look, Christians have done terrible things too,' I just found it appalling," the former presidential candidate said.
"I wish he could point out one Christian group that's burning people alive or beheading anybody, and how in the world that has anything to do with the war against terrorism that's being inflicted by the jihadists," Huckabee said.
Former Rep. Bob Walker of Pennsylvania, who joined Huckabee on "America's Forum," told Newsmax that Obama's comments give "tremendous propaganda value to ISIS and the entire radical movement."
Added Huckabee, "not only does that speech give it, but if you add to that the comments that he made in his interview recently where he said that the media has exaggerated the role of Islam and exaggerated the threat of terrorism, I just find that utterly amazing."
In addition, Huckabee, a possible Republican 2016 presidential candidate, said Obama's State of the Union address included "the ridiculous statement ... [that] the greatest threat to American security is ... climate change," making Obama "the only person I know who thinks that a sunburn is worse than a beheading.
"It is just unimaginable why he feels that he has to be the No. 1 defender of all things Islam," Huckabee said.
"I'm not an anti-Islamist, I'm not, but I can call out something for what it is," he said, saying that "there are many moderate Muslims across the world who are appalled by this."
He added that "it isn't Christians' fault that people are having their heads cut off."
In response to the news that
Kayla Mueller, the American woman who was captured by ISIS, was confirmed dead, Huckabee said that "it's another heartbreaking instance of yet another innocent American, another young and vibrant life that's been cut off by terrorism."
"These are radical, religious fanatics who can't be negotiated with, with whom there is no way to bring compromise, consensus, or resolution," he explained.
"Their intention is to kill us, their intention is not simply to govern us, but to kill us," he said.
"If we're dealing with someone whose goal is to annihilate us and exterminate us," Huckabee added, "then the only thing we can do is to kill them before they kill us, because those are the rules of engagement."