President Obama responds to Huckabee Holocaust comparison

NEW YORK (Christian Examiner) – President Barack Obama in Ethiopia today responded to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's comparison of his nuclear deal with Iran to the Nazi holocaust, calling the comments "sad" and "ridiculous."

What's 'ridiculous and sad' is that President Obama does not take Iran's repeated threats seriously. For decades, Iranian leaders have pledged to 'destroy,' 'annihilate,' and 'wipe Israel off the map' with a 'big Holocaust.' 'Never again' will be the policy of my administration and I will stand with our ally Israel to prevent the terrorists in Tehran from achieving their own stated goal of another Holocaust.

On Saturday, Huckabee – one of 16 Republican presidential hopefuls – called the president's handling of nuclear negotiations with Iran "the most feckless" foreign policy in U.S. history. Huckabee also said President Obama was naïve to believe the Iranians.

"By doing so, he will take the Israelis and march them to the door of the oven," Huckabee said. "This is the most idiotic thing, this Iran deal. It should be rejected by both Democrats and Republicans in Congress and by the American people. I read the whole deal. We gave away the whole store. It's got to be stopped."

Obama said Huckabee was trying to push Donald Trump out of the headlines and capture the spotlight for himself, but he said politicians shouldn't play "fast and loose" with words on issues of war and peace.

"The particular comments of Mr. Huckabee are part of just a general pattern that we've seen that is –would be considered ridiculous if it weren't so sad," Obama said.

Huckabee immediately responded to the president's rebuke via a Facebook posting:

"What's 'ridiculous and sad' is that President Obama does not take Iran's repeated threats seriously," Huckabee said. "For decades, Iranian leaders have pledged to 'destroy,' 'annihilate,' and 'wipe Israel off the map' with a 'big Holocaust.' 'Never again' will be the policy of my administration and I will stand with our ally Israel to prevent the terrorists in Tehran from achieving their own stated goal of another Holocaust."

On July 20, Iran's Ayatollah Khamenei tweeted, "#Israel's security will not be ensured whether there will be an #IranDeal or not."

The statement was also accompanied by a video showing Iranian missiles being launched (right). 

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