Potential presidential candidate Mike
Huckabee on Sunday described gay marriage as a biblical issue.
The 59-year-old former governor of
Arkansas earlier this month left Fox News to consider a bid for the
GOP presidential nomination.
During an appearance on CNN's State
of the Union, Huckabee insisted that he has gay friends while
suggesting that being gay is a choice like drinking or using
profanity.
“People can be my friends who have
lifestyles that are not necessarily my lifestyle,” he told CNN's
Dana Bash. “I don't shut people out of my circle or out of my life
because they have a different point of view. I don't drink alcohol,
but gosh, a lot of my friend, maybe most of them, do. You know, I
don't use profanity, but believe me, I've got a lot of friends who
do. Some people really like classical music and ballet and opera –
it's not my cup of tea.”
Huckabee also targeted President Barack
Obama, who cited his faith in stopping short of endorsing marriage
equality in 2008, then said in offering his support four years later
that he had “evolved” on the issue.
“But for me, as it was for President
Obama in 2008, this is not just a political issue, it is a biblical
issue. And as a biblical issue … unless I get a new version of the
Scriptures, it's really not my place to say okay, I'm just going to
evolve.”
“It's like asking someone who's
Jewish to start serving bacon-wrapped shrimp in their deli. We don't
want to do that. I mean, we're not going to do that. Or like asking
a Muslim to serve up something that is offensive to him, or to have
dogs in his backyard,” he added. “We're so sensitive to make
sure we don't offend certain religions, but then we act like
Christians can't have the convictions that they've had for 2,000
years.” (The video is embedded on this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)
(Related: “Horse
apples!”: Mike Huckabee lashes out at GOP over gay marriage.)