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.
Huckabee, Is the only one worth voting for, the others are a bunch of lunitics looking out only for themselves and have no business even running in the US, try Iran!
so what if a cross is in the background! it probably only offends godless liberals anyway!!!
Just a note to Donahue. I am a voter that believes what your religious beliefs are is the issue.
The God of the Bible is not at all the God you describe. You are describing the gods of animistic religions, which breed fatalism. The God of the Bible teaches that He has given man free will and man’s actions have consequences. Distorted religion is used to enslave. Not all “Christians” teach what the Bible says. Read the Bible for yourself rather than believing others. Huckabee does not follow in the footsteps of simplistic religious leaders. In the debates, Huckabee refused to say that he believed the Earth was created in a literal seven days because he knows that the original Hebrew is not specific about that. Use your brains - don’t just parrot arguments you have heard from other people. Huckabee is not running to become elected to a theocracy, anyway. In Arkansas he did not mandate Christianity, and he will not as President either. Go to MikeHuckabee.com to see the real message: limited government, the Fair Tax, and a strong immigration plan.
Matt — Why the lies about what Jesus teaches? I forgive you, as Jesus forgives you for being ignorant of the truth. I encourage you to study God’s Word and pray that he opens your eyes to the truth that He teaches. Your statement,
“But if you are a Buddhist man living in China 1000 A.D. who never even heard of Jesus Christ, if you lived your life honorably, were faithful to your wife, honest with your fellow man, etc… it doesn’t matter. You didn’t accept the TRUTH before you died so you are going to Hell.”
is the opposite of what Jesus teaches. Only those who knowingly reject our Savior Jesus Christ will burn in the lake of fire with the devil. Just because a person is a Christian and going to heaven to live for eternity, it doesn’t mean that they are sinless. Christians accept the fact that they are sinners and try to live by the teachings and examples that Jesus set forth. They sin every day; however, they are saved by the grace of God through the blood that Jesus Christ shed at the cross at Calvary. The beauty of God’s love is that all you have to do is BELIEVE and accept Him. At the final judgement day… ALL will have one last opportunity to make that choice: To Accept Jesus (Truth), or to reject Him. Those that believe will be rewarded in Heaven; those that reject Him will burn in Hell. My prayers for you and every other human being in this world is that you Accept and Serve Jesus. Don’t allow the devil to bring anger and hatred toward those that deep down inside; you wish you could be like. God is calling for you and is waiting with open arms!
hi hope it was was cross and i’m thrilled that he said merry christmas in keeping christ in christmas i commend him its pretty sad to think the birth of christ would offend anyone it makes me sick when i see a sign or billboard that says merry xmas sad
Understood….
We know who has the republican ticket….
Vote Hillary to make sure we win.
With a child on the way, it truly worries me to think about the future of America with higher taxes, big government, open borders, and no morals.
This year you can make a difference. Find someone who normally does not vote and get them to the polls!!!
Don’t you all know that whoever doesn’t believe what Huckabee believes (most everybody who has ever lived throughout all time) is wrong and is going to hell to suffer for eternity?
That’s just good Baptist doctrine folks.
This has been part of God’s plan before he created all of us out of nothing. God knew what would happen before he created us. God knew that Romney would be a Mormon before God created Romney, but God doesn’t mind that God sends most of the people he creates out of nothing to hell.
God is all powerful, all knowing, … he knows what he is doing, just accept it.
Peace and God bless anybody who believes like Huckabee. … And God bless Mike Huckabee 2008!
oh and, the rest of you … go to hell
Jesus only cares if you academically acknowledge the correct doctrines currently espoused by mainstream evangelical Christians. Everybody else is going to hell.
I can sin all I want … as long as I believe in the doctrines voted on in the Council of Nicea and other similar creeds that came about in the Medieval times.
But if you are a Buddhist man living in China 1000 A.D. who never even heard of Jesus Christ, if you lived your life honorably, were faithful to your wife, honest with your fellow man, etc… it doesn’t matter. You didn’t accept the TRUTH before you died so you are going to Hell.
Anybody who doesn’t believe what I believe (most everybody who has ever lived) is wrong and is going to hell to suffer for eternity. This has been part of God’s plan before he created all of us out of nothing.
Peace and God bless … And God bless Mike Huckabee 2008
-Matt (the Evangelical Christian)
Wait a second. He’s got Christmas tree and says, “remember that what really matters is the celebration of the birth of Christ”.
Yet Huckabee foolish enough to say that the conveniently placed cross shape was “incidental”. If they would just admit that the visual was there on purpose, there should be no controversy.
I would have no problem with the ad if Huckabee would just be straightforward about it. Clearly they reviewed the ad and saw the Christian imagery there before it aired. It is a big freakin CROSS shape for crying out loud. Realistically, they positioned everything very purposefully. So, just admit that it was part of the ad and the imagery and then move on.
Everyone knows Huckabee is banking on the Evangelical vote, so it should be no surprise. Why pretend that the bookshelf cross was an accident. It clearly was not an accident.