Mike Huckabee lashed out at President Barack Obama on Friday, charging the president deliberately ignored the fact that the victims in the Umpqua Community College shooting were Christians.
"The president always wants to be defensive and tell us that there's no such thing as Islamic terrorism, these aren't religious people even though we all know they are but when it seems the target is a Christian, he conveniently just ignores it, denies it or just moves on to something else. It is incredibly significant that there was a religious intent and motive in this shooter's attitude," Huckabee said Friday on "The Steve Malzberg Show" on
Newsmax TV.
The former Arkansas governor also criticized the president's statement just hours after the tragedy that mass shootings like the one Thursday that claimed nine victims have somehow "become routine"
"Every time we have a mass shooting the president comes out and he always says 'let's have some common sense gun laws.' Now tell me what common sense gun law would've prevented that?" he asked.
"What common sense gun law does he have in mind because what he proposed after [the school shootings at Sandy Hook] would not have prevented it? Every time he has this proposal, it's always about tackling a problem that doesn't exist and not dealing with the real problem.
"And it's not going to help and stop these horrible shooting and all of us agree that it's unacceptable, that it's awful and that it's an incredible tragedy that we shouldn't just roll over and say 'there's nothing we can do.'"
Watch Newsmax TV on
DirecTV Ch. 349, DISH Ch. 223 and
Verizon FiOS Ch. 115. Get Newsmax TV on your cable system —
Click Here Now
At a news conference Thursday night, Obama said that with the number of mass shootings across the nation people have "become numb to this."
"And what's become routine, of course, is the response of those who oppose any kind of common-sense gun legislation. Right now, I can imagine the press releases being cranked out.
"'We need more guns,' they'll argue. 'Fewer gun-safety laws,'" Obama said.
The president's remarks came hours after a heavily-armed man identified as Chris Harper-Mercer stormed the Oregon community college, killed 10 people and injured 20, before being shot dead by police sharpshooters.
Huckabee, who is seeking the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, suggested that instead of the president "tinkering with the Second Amendment, he might want to propose tinkering with the First Amendment.
"And maybe say that we would not give this guy's name on the air, that we wouldn't put his picture up on the air because when you glorify these killers, and again in a deranged mind, it's glorification for them to get the publicity and the notoriety.
"Perhaps if we want to stop these mass killings, one way to do it is simply refer to them as the savage, the animal, the thug, the cold-blooded cowardly murderer but never, ever, ever mention the animal's name and never put his face up on the screen because then you give him exactly what he wants."
© 2023 Newsmax. All rights reserved.