Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said Monday that President Obama sounds like he’s more interested in protecting the reputation of Islam than he is in protecting the American people and that the State Department has been “infiltrated” with “pro-Islamic staff and is filled with people who are “very anti-Israel.”
“It sounds to me that the president is more interested [in] protecting the reputation of Islam than he is in protecting the American people,” Mr. Huckabee, a 2016 GOP presidential candidate, said on “Fox and Friends.” “It’s the most inexplicable thing for a president of the United States not to want to identify.”
During a nationally-televised address Sunday evening on the threat posed by the Islamic State terrorist group, Mr. Obama had said: “We cannot turn against one another by letting this fight be defined as a war between America and Islam. That, too, is what groups like ISIL want.
“ISIL does not speak for Islam,” Mr. Obama said. “They are thugs and killers, part of a cult of death, and they account for a tiny fraction of more than a billion Muslims around the world - including millions of patriotic Muslim Americans who reject their hateful ideology.”
Asked later in the interview why Mr. Obama has re-emphasized efforts like banning people on terror watch lists from getting guns, Mr. Huckabee said: “Why did he have the deal with Iran? That was insane. Is it Valerie Jarrett, the influence that she has on his administration?”
“Is it the fact that the State Department is infiltrated with pro-Islamic staff, because it is?” Mr. Huckabee said. “Foggy Bottom is filled with people who are very anti-Israel and very strong toward more of a Palestinian cause and an Islamic cause. Is that what it is? I don’t understand it…it makes no sense.”
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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