FLORENCE, S.C. -- It’s no secret that Mike Huckabee is a religious man.
An ordained Baptist minister, the former Arkansas governor has worn his faith on his sleeve as a politician and media figure.
Huckabee never has hesitated to delve publicly into issues ranging from his nuanced defense of creationism to the question of why a loving God would allow suffering in the world.
But even some of the most devout believers have questioned their faith at one time or another. Has Huckabee ever examined his own beliefs analytically?
The Huffington Post put the question to him last week, when we spent a day with the 2016 Republican presidential candidate on the campaign trail in South Carolina for the latest installment of our original series ’16 And President.
We’ll have the full episode up later this week, but we’re offering this preview as a window into Huckabee’s core convictions and thought process.
His contemplative answer to this question was particularly striking in light of his decision, over the weekend, to invoke the Holocaust in arguing against the nuclear deal with Iran. Huckabee said that with the deal, President Barack Obama “will take the Israelis and march them to the door of the oven.”
Obama condemned Huckabee’s comment as “sad,” and Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton said that she was “really offended personally” by the remark.
The comment and ensuing fallout were in keeping with the media environment that Huckabee has mastered, where sound bites are coin of the realm and whoever is willing to say the most incendiary thing gets rewarded with the most airtime.
But given the opportunity, Huckabee can also be more pensive than glib, as his answer to our question demonstrated.
Watch the video above and stay tuned later this week for ’16 And President: Mike Huckabee.
Story by Scott Conroy
Video produced by Samuel Wilkes
Cinematography by Jon Strauss and Samuel Wilkes
Associate production by Marielle Olentine