Mike Huckabee Defends ‘Merry Christmas’ Ad, Says Cross Imagery is Incidental
Dec. 18: The TV ad features former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee in a red sweater in front of what appears to be a white cross and Christmas tree. (Huckabee for President, Inc.)
In a new television ad debuting Tuesday in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee does the unthinkable - he wishes early voters “Merry Christmas.”
Wearing a red sweater and standing before a glowing Christmas tree as “Silent Night” plays in the background, the former Arkansas governor asks viewers if they’re “about worn out of all the television commercials you’ve been seeing, mostly about politics.”
Behind Huckabee appears to be a white cross, which may be intersecting shelf lines or a window pane and slowly moves to the right on the screen until it’s behind his head.
But the ordained Baptist minister, who has been riding a wave of evangelical support with his open religious appeals, said Tuesday that it’s just a bookshelf and defended the ad.
“If we are so politically correct in this country that a person can’t say ‘enough of the nonsense with the political attack ads could we pause for a few days and say Merry Christmas to each other,’ then we’re really, really in trouble as a country,” Huckabee said, speaking in Houston, Texas.
Click here to watch the ad titled, “What Really Matters”
In the ad, Huckabee says, “At this time of year, sometimes it’s nice to pull aside from all of that and remember that what really matters is the celebration of the birth of Christ.”
“I hope you and your family have a magnificent Christmas season. God bless you and Merry Christmas.”
Will Mike Huckabee’s new TV ad where he mentions Christ by name and displays imagery of the cross help him or hurt him?
Have no effect (16%)
Hurt him (8%)
Loading …Catholic League president Bill Donahue said Huckabee went beyond wishing people a joyous holiday. Donahue said he was especially disturbed by the cross-like image created in the background of the ad, saying he believed it was a subliminal message.
“What he’s trying to say to the evangelicals in western Iowa (is): I’m the real thing,” Donahue said Tuesday on Fox News Channel’s “Fox and Friends. “You know what, sell yourself on your issues, not on what your religion is.”
Huckabee said the bookshelf is “nothing more than a bookshelf” and shrugged off the controversy: “I will confess this: If you play the spot backwards it says, ‘Paul is dead. Paul is dead.”‘
He was joking about the Beatles’ recording of “The White Album” and the urban legend that if a portion of the album is played backwards, the words “Paul is dead” is heard, a reference to the very much alive Paul McCartney.
Meanwhile, rival Mitt Romney launched a new TV ad yesterday slamming Huckabee, the ex-Arkansas governor, for commuting the sentences of 1,033 criminals - including 12 convicted murderers. “Huckabee granted more clemencies than the previous three governors combined,” says the 30-second Romney attack ad.
“The difference between us is that I did something he never had to do. I carried out the death penalty 16 times, more than any other governor in my state’s history,” Huckabee told reporters in Los Angeles before attending a Beverly Hills fundraiser. “That’s hardly soft on crime when you make that tough decision and actually carry it out.”
Romney’s state of Massachusetts does not have capital punishment.
The Romney-Huckabee spat continued throughout the day Tuesday.
“Interestingly, Mr. Romney has commended President Bush for the pardon of Scooter Libby, yet he brags that he never gave one as governor,” Huckabee said in Houston.
Returning fire in Columbia, S.C., Romney reiterated that Huckabee is “liberal” on crime and immigration.
Asked about the Christmas ad, Romney said, “We recognize the diversity of faith and we unite over our commitment to religious liberty, and I hope Governor Huckabee, like all of us, is supportive to the diversity of faith and the liberty to worship God as they choose, and I trust that he and the other candidates will do just that.”
Not surprisingly, Huckabee sounded Monday as if he wanted to declare a holiday truce among the Republican presidential contenders.
“I think the country could use a little good will and peace on earth a little more than they can some tit for tat in the political arena,” Huckabee said.
FOX News’ Carl Cameron, Serafin Gomez and Shushannah Walshe, and The New York Post and Associated Press contributed to this report.
Go Mitt Romney. YAEAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!
Mitt Romney is the man
I LOVE Huckabee!!!!! he is the bomb and i hope he wins not HILARY or OBAMA… keep thing the way they are!!!
Regardless of whether I vote for Huckabee, bottom line he deserves respect for standing by his convictions and his underlying character is consistent. We overlook someone’s good intentions for the will of the people and cry like babies with our personal agendas. Im getting a headache over the “debate” of the cross in the background. All of you who complain, your a hypocrite - oh wait…WERE all hypocrites….Yeah, think about it. I know critical thinking is hard these days but just try - you can do it. Just set the baby bottle down first….
We celebrate all religions and faiths and give freedom for all folks to worship God in their own way. Get over it. Go ahead with your jewish, peaceful muslim, buddhist, New Age, and so on. Its his right and freedom and for crying outloud it was a bookshelf. If you insist that it was a cross and he was being “sneaky” well go see your therapist and up the meds on your paranoia.
whats wrong with a inoccuos holiday greeting? Im surprised they didnt cause a fuss about him wishing a merry christmas rather than wishing every one a politicolly correct happy holidays. And as far as the cross imagry its a matter of identity. If he had intended to have a cross in the background whats wrong with that? He is asserting his background, its a way of exerting his good qualities in order to connect with his constituency on a level that will further his campaign. Mike huckabee has stated before when he beat romney in one of the initial caucauses that he wanted to show that down home politics can over come multimillion dollar campaigns. For his means, huckabee is doing very well. This commercial reminds me a little of the fireside chats practiced by FDR. The subsequent controversy over this is also a sign that this country has hardened its hard towards more personnal politics.
“GOD BLESS HUCKABEE!!! How has this country gotten to the point where there is even question and/or controversy over the cross?”
I have no problem if he has a cross in his add.
I do have a problem - and it is chronic problem with Huckabee - that he lies so much.
His denying that it was not intentional makes as much sense as the negative add that he decided not show so he invited all the press to see it.
It is so refreshing and eye-opening to see comments of people backing up Christianity or at least Huckabee! The media doesn’t portray the true Americans, the lifeblood of this nation. May God bless those who honor His name for the sake of saving our country!
GOD BLESS HUCKABEE!!! How has this country gotten to the point where there is even question and/or controversy over the cross? We are, for those who may have forgotten, a nation FOUNDED on God and the Bible! It’s about time somebody stood up for Christianity! Americans (as a whole) are sooo tolerant of most other religions, but when it comes to Christianity, the core of what this nation was, Merry CHRISTmas is just too suggestive. How pathetic a view foreigners must have of us. God will not bless America unless America first blesses God! We really need Huckabee in the White House to help bring this fallen nation back to God. It’s the ONLY way America will regain its world-wide dominance and respectability.
P.Clark i couldnt agree with you more! I am from Oregon even though Mike Huckabee doesnt have a chance to win in this crazy liberal state, he will still receive my vote. If the left is really for freedom of religion and embraces diversity than it should not have a problem with Mike Huckabees religious beliefs or if he has the nerve to show them
Go America and the religious right!!
I don’t think that Donahue had any right to say that he was infringing on any right. I agree, it is freedom OF religion. I’m not a Huckabee supporter, but I do greatly respect him for wishing a Merry Christmas. People need to chill out. It shouldn’t matter.