Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is standing by his dire warning that President Barack Obama’s Iran nuclear deal could bring about another Holocaust.
The Republican presidential contender said he wasn’t comparing Obama to Adolf Hitler when he asserted that the agreement will march Israel “to the door of the oven,” in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper on “The Lead.”
Rather, Huckabee said, the deal puts the United States in an “appeasement mode,” like World War II-era British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain.
“I wasn’t comparing the President to Adolph Hitler,” Huckabee said. “I’m comparing the situation that we face, when we do not take seriously the threats made to Jews for 20 years after the writings of Hitler.”
Huckabee said the United States effectively surrendered to Iran in agreeing to ease economic sanctions in exchange for increased inspections and curbs on the country’s nuclear program. He said he thinks Iran will find ways around its obligations.
“We still went into an appeasement mode with the efforts of Chamberlain, it was disastrous,” he said. “I’m simply saying when you’ve had 36 years of Iranian threats to destroy Israel … when they say that they want to be able to destroy Israel and all the Jews by having them in one place … those aren’t my words. Those are their words.”
Huckabee, who has visited Israel often enough that he guides tours there, said Iran’s government has long threatened Israel’s existence.
“The last time that we did not take seriously when people were making threats against the Jewish people, it was a disastrous consequence. We cannot let that happen again,” he said.
“I don’t trust them and I don’t know why anybody would,” Huckabee said.