Obama chides 2016 candidates for ‘ridiculous,’ ‘sad’ remarks

This weekend, Huckabee said the Iran deal is “idiotic” and that Obama will ultimately “take the Israelis and march them to the door of the oven”.

At a news conference while visiting this African country, Obama defended the global nuclear agreement he and other world leaders reached with Iran and he bristled at the assertion by former governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas that the president’s policy would “take the Israelis and march them to the door of the oven”.

These remarks came as a surprise not only because of their relative irrelevance to Africa travels, but also because the lame-duck president has been wary of wading into the 2016 race. “(The comments) should be repudiated by every person of good faith”. “I am disappointed and I am really offended personally”, she declared.

Clinton is right. Huckabee went over the line, but these are the desperate measures that Republican candidates have to take to get noticed.

Obama has defended the deal in news conferences, and Secretary of State John Kerry sparred with Senate Republicans over it during a committee hearing.

However, she continued to rail against Huckabee for his “totally unacceptable” Holocaust comparison.

ADL’s National Director Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement, “To hear Mr. Huckabee invoke the Holocaust when America is Israel’s greatest ally and when Israel is a strong nation capable of defending itself is disheartening”.

The ordained Baptist minister, who has a strong following among conservative Christians, fell short of defeating Senator John McCain in 2008, but surprised many after winning eight states during that campaign’s primary.

Huckabee quickly dismissed the presidential critique, arguing that what was “ridiculous and sad” was that Obama wasn’t taking Iran’s threats to destroy Israel seriously.

“I recognize when outrageous statements like that are made about me, that a lot of the same people who were outraged when they were made about Mr. McCain were pretty quiet”.

Huckabee may have simply been trying to push Trump out of the headlines, Obama said, adding that that doesn’t reflect positively on his leadership. Republicans-especially those voters who pick the party’s nominee-overwhelmingly support Israel and are more than willing to listen to criticism of anything Obama backs.

“These are not words that I would use or that I think are appropriate”, Ambassador Ron Dermer said in an interview with USA Today released Monday, shortly after Huckabee refused to apologize in a separate interview. “The fact that everyone is following is because we are who we are”, he said. “It is clear that this is Iran’s intent”, Santorum, a former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, said Monday on “The Steve Malzberg Show” on Newsmax TV.