Mike Huckabee Defends Anti-Transgender Joke, Calls It a ''Commonsense Answer to the Insanity''

''I'd rather be a commonsense candidate for people who did take their brains to work today,'' the presidential hopeful said

By Alyssa Toomey Jun 09, 2015 6:06 PMTags
Mike HuckabeeRobin Marchant/Getty Images

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, who is currently seeking the Republican nomination for president of the United States in 2016, is standing by an anti-transgender joke he made in February during a speech at the 2015 National Religious Broadcasters Convention in Nashville, Tenn.

In an interview with radio host Steve Deace on Friday (via Right Wing Watch), the conservative politician was asked about the controversial comments he made four months ago and whether the media's focus on Caitlyn Jenner is an example of "misplaced priorities." 

"Yes, that's absolutely an example," the 59-year-old, who previously ran for president back in 2008, said after the interviewer brought up "the whole alleged transgender issue." 

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"And by the way, Steve, I take nothing back from that speech," Huckabee insisted. "I'm kind of glad it's posted because people, if they watch the whole clip, what they're going to see is that I'm giving a commonsense answer to the insanity that's going on out there.

"Because I hear people, everybody wants to be politically correct, everybody wants to be loved by the media and loved by the left and loved by the elitists," the ordained South Baptist minister continued. "But, you know, I know I'm not going to be, so let's just get it over with. I'd rather be a commonsense candidate for people who did take their brains to work today."

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During his February speech, Huckabee was discussing an ordinance that would allow transgender men and women to use the restroom they feel corresponds to their gender identity. 

"Now I wish that someone told me that when I was in high school that I could have felt like a woman when it came time to take showers in PE," he told the crowd. "I'm pretty sure that I would have found my feminine side and said, 'Coach, I think I'd rather shower with the girls today.' You're laughing because it sounds so ridiculous doesn't it?"