JONESBORO, Ark. — Controversial comments made by former Arkansas Governor and current Republican Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has gone viral on YouTube.
The comments were made in February 2015 but resurfaced just days after Caitlyn Jenner revealed her new gender identity in Vanity Fair Magazine.
Huckabee brought his 2016 Presidential campaign to Jonesboro on Wednesday.
He discussed the economy and the war on terrorism but said little about the controversial remarks he made before the National Religious Broadcasters Convention in Nashville.
“Now, I wish someone had told me when I was in high school that I could have felt like a woman when it came time to take showers in PE. I’m pretty sure I would have found my feminine side and said, ‘coach, I think I’d rather shower with the girls today,” Huckabee said in the video.
In his speech, Huckabee went on to criticize what he called a “social experiment” in public schools where transgender students are allowed to use whatever bathroom corresponds with their gender identity.
Huckabee defended those remarks during his stop in Jonesboro.
“I was pointing out the irrational public policies that we’re facing in many cities and states. So, it’s really an observation that some of the things that cities and states are hurriedly doing to a lot of parents of small children simply don’t make sense,” he said.
WREG reached out to the Gay-Straight Alliance at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro for its reaction to Huckabee’s comments.
We received a one-line email from Faculty Advisor Joseph Rukus.
“We thank you for your invitation but we will not dignify Governor Huckabee’s comments with a response,” he wrote.
And it was clear Wednesday Huckabee wanted to focus on issues and not what he said four months ago.
“When people say, ‘which one is most important: getting jobs or fixing the economy or protecting America?’ It’s like asking me which wing on the airplane is most important? The one on the left or the one on the right? I kind of like to fly with the wings firmly attached to the fuselage on both sides. I feel that’s how we’ve got to approach this campaign,” said Huckabee.