Huckabee Apologizes for Obama Joke at NRA

Submitted by jmeasley on Sat, 05/17/2008 - 01:45.

Mike Huckabee put his foot firmly in his mouth today when while speaking before the national convention of the National Rifle Association, when during his speech there was a loud noise backstage, which led Huckabee to joke, “That was Barack Obama. He just tripped off a chair. He’s getting ready to speak and somebody aimed a gun at him and he — he dove for the floor.” (You can watch the video above).

This so called joke was not funny on so many levels, and the criticism came so fast and furious that Huckabee had to issue an apology this evening.

“During my speech at the N.R.A., a loud noise backstage, that sounded like a chair falling, distracted the crowd and interrupted my speech. I made an off hand remark that was in no way intended to offend or disparage Sen. Obama. I apologize that my comments were offensive. That was never my intention,” Huckabee said in a statement.

It is always wrong to joke about any presidential candidate being shot, but joking about Obama being shot is an especially sensitive subject. What I want to know is if Huckabee did not mean to offend or disparage, then what exactly did he mean by his joke?

Maybe he meant that the liberal Obama wasn’t welcome at the conservative NRA convention? That is possible, or maybe he meant that Obama will take your guns away? This is a typical Republican tactic. I don’t really care how he meant it. There is nothing funny about any presidential candidate, Republican or Democrat, having a gun aimed at them.

Huckabee apology:

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/16/huckabee-targets-obama-wit...