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Mike Huckabee Actually Said This About Women Today

“The Republicans don’t have a war on women. They have a war for women.”

Steven Hsieh

January 23, 2014

Mike Huckabee speaks at the Republican National Committee winter meeting. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

During a meeting with Republican National Committee members today, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee made some really stupid comments about women.

Huckabee, who served two full terms as Arkansas governor, insinuated that women who use birth control “cannot control their libidos." He also claimed, “Democrats want to insult the women of America by making them believe that they are helpless without Uncle Sugar coming in and providing for them a prescription.

Huckabee, who ran for president in 2008 and is seen by some Republicans as a viable candidate for 2016, also disputed that the GOP is waging a “war on women,” suggesting instead that his party fights a “war for women.”

Asked about the comments, White House spokesperson Jay Carney said, “it sounds offensive to me, and to women.”

Here are Huckabee’s comments in full, provided by Yahoo! News’s Chris Moody:

I think it’s time for Republicans to no longer accept listening to Democrats talk about a war on women. Because the fact is, the Republicans don’t have a war on women. They have a war for women. For them to be empowered; to be something other than victims of their gender. Women I know are outraged that Democrats think that women are nothing more than helpless and hopeless creatures whose only goal in life is to have a government provide for them birth control medication. Women I know are smart, educated, intelligent, capable of doing anything anyone else can do. Our party stands for the recognition of the equality of women and the capacity of women. That’s not a war on them, it’s a war for them. And if the Democrats want to insult the women of America by making them believe that they are helpless without Uncle Sugar coming in and providing for them a prescription each month for birth control because they cannot control their libido or their reproductive system without the help of the government, then so be it, let’s take that discussion all across America because women are far more than Democrats have made them to be. And women across America have to stand up and say, Enough of that nonsense.

UPDATE 2:37 pm: Here’s video of Huckabee making the comments.

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Steven HsiehTwitterSteven Hsieh is a freelance writer from St. Louis.


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