Mike Huckabee slams Natalie Portman for being unmarried & pregnant

[Tender Branson]

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is criticizing Oscar-winner Natalie Portman’s pregnancy because she’s not married.

In an interview with radio talk show host Michael Medved that took place on Monday but that’s getting traction today, Huckabee said that Portman’s out-of-wedlock pregnancy was “troubling.”

“It’s unfortunate that we glorify and glamorize the idea” of having children without being married, Huckabee said on the program.

Huckabee is widely viewed as a possible presidential candidate. He has a contract to appear on Fox News, which is owned by News Corp., publisher of the Wall Street Journal.

Portman’s publicist did not respond to a request for a comment.

Excerpts from Huckabee’s interview:

”You know Michael, one of the things that’s troubling is that people see a Natalie Portman or some other Hollywood starlet who boasts of, ‘Hey look, you know, we’re having children, we’re not married, but we’re having these children, and they’re doing just fine.’ But there aren’t really a lot of single moms out there who are making millions of dollars every year for being in a movie.”

”Most single moms are very poor, uneducated, can’t get a job, and if it weren’t for government assistance, their kids would be starving to death and never have health care. And that’s the story that we’re not seeing.”

”You know, right now, 75 percent of black kids in this country are born out of wedlock. 61 percent of Hispanic kids — across the board, 41 percent of all live births in America are out of wedlock births. And the cost of that is simply staggering.”

http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2011/03/04/mike-huckabee-criticizess-natalie-portmans-pregnancy/?mod=google_news_blog

[King]

Nobody is glamorizing Natalie Portman for being an unwed mother.  They are glamorizing her for her award-winning performance in Black Swan.   I think it's more troubling that some consider a woman's ability to find a husband and make babies tells more about "who she is" than say, I don't know, her own accomplishments.

After years of mild mannered talk, Huckabee has been going on gaffe spree this past week.  Perhaps he's intentionally trying to get his name out of the Presidential talks.

[Tender Branson]

Question for Mike:

If you think that children born out of wedlock will end up being poor, why do countries like Iceland or Sweden - where 70% of children are born out of wedlock - have one of the lowest child poverty rates on the planet ?

I think that he just tried to get a boost among the Christian fundies, but fails to understand that out-of-wedlock births are the FUTURE, even in America.

[SvenssonRS]

I see he's gone full-on Westboro on us.

[PASOK Leader Hashemite]

So when I was thinking he was the most decent and most intelligent/least crazy of the bunch, I was wrong all along since he seems that he's your typical Bible-bashing moralfag retard.

[Grumps]

So when I was thinking he was the most decent and most intelligent/least crazy of the bunch, I was wrong all along since he seems that he's your typical Bible-bashing moralfag retard.

The primary season brings it out of them, Hashish.

[Invisible Obama]

Why is he even discussing someone's personal life? To judge anyone like that is not good form, especially for a former two-term Governor who ran for President.

[Likely Voter]

Wow, so this week Mike has made it clear that Obama is a scary muslim and Natalie Portman is a skank. Last it was how the Arabs should all leave Isreal and Abortion was America's most important issue.

I really don't think this guy is running for President.

[Senator Napoleon]

Nobody is glamorizing Natalie Portman for being an unwed mother.  They are glamorizing her for her award-winning performance in Black Swan.   I think it's more troubling that some consider a woman's ability to find a husband and make babies tells more about "who she is" than say, I don't know, her own accomplishments.

After years of mild mannered talk, Huckabee has been going on gaffe spree this past week.  Perhaps he's intentionally trying to get his name out of the Presidential talks.

Well put. Natalie Portman's family life is none of our business, especially not Mike Huckabee's. I wish the fundamentalist scatterbrains would just give it up already. Politically, they are shrinking by the day. I can't wait until these sorts of creeps are fully removed from American politics. We'd all be much better off.

[shua]

Question for Mike:

If you think that children born out of wedlock will end up being poor, why do countries like Iceland or Sweden - where 70% of children are born out of wedlock - have one of the lowest child poverty rates on the planet ?

I think that he just tried to get a boost among the Christian fundies, but fails to understand that out-of-wedlock births are the FUTURE, even in America.

in America, children born out of wedlock are more likely to be poor. i think probably the type of arrangements for children with unmarried parents are probably much different for Swedes than for Americans.

[Yelnoc]

I don't like the way he is sticking his nose into other peoples' personal lives but he does bring up a good point.  Children born out of wedlock, at least in America (we aren't talking about how things are up in Iceland, Tender), are handicapped from the start financially and often emotionally.  Not every woman is a Natalie Portman who makes millions acting and thus is able to support her child on her own.

[A dog on every car, a car in every elevator]

Isn't she engaged to that baby daddy anyway?

[Swedish Cheese]

I was concived while my parents were still married, but born after their divorce, am I technically a bastard then?

Anyway, Tender's statistics from Sweden need to be put into context. Here a lot of couples have children and live together without being married. It's also quite common for people to wait to get married until after they have children. So even though the children are technically born out of wedlock they're still raised in one home by two parents, while in America children who are born out of wedlock will mostly be raised by a single parent.

That being said, this is an unbelievebly clumsy and silly statement from Huckabee. Does he think the acadamy should start handing out Oscars based on actors values and moral rather than their acting? 

[mondale84]

Children born out of wedlock, at least in America (we aren't talking about how things are up in Iceland, Tender), are handicapped from the start financially and often emotionally. 

Can you provide some statistics with that? Or are we all going to be like Huck and just conjure theories out of thin air? At the very least, you are making a GROSS exaggeration.

[Beet]

I agree with Mike Huckabee's left-wing economic analysis/point that jobs, government subsidized education and health care are critical to poor families, especially single mothers. It's especially relevant in light of the current debate over what to cut to implement austerity. Thanks, Mike.

[Thomas D]

Wow. He just snapped these past few days.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

I agree with Mike Huckabee's left-wing economic analysis/point that jobs, government subsidized education and health care are critical to poor families, especially single mothers. It's especially relevant in light of the current debate over what to cut to implement austerity. Thanks, Mike.

Huckabee isn't remotely left-wing on economic issues. For one thing, he wants to abolish the estate tax.

[Yelnoc]

Children born out of wedlock, at least in America (we aren't talking about how things are up in Iceland, Tender), are handicapped from the start financially and often emotionally. 

Can you provide some statistics with that? Or are we all going to be like Huck and just conjure theories out of thin air? At the very least, you are making a GROSS exaggeration.

I can provide personal epithets; from what I have seen of the world that is almost always true.  But if you need cold, hard numbers go find them.

[Beet]

I agree with Mike Huckabee's left-wing economic analysis/point that jobs, government subsidized education and health care are critical to poor families, especially single mothers. It's especially relevant in light of the current debate over what to cut to implement austerity. Thanks, Mike.

Huckabee isn't remotely left-wing on economic issues. For one thing, he wants to abolish the estate tax.

I was being facetious. Srsly though, if he does believe kids will starve without welfare, he needs to talk to John Boehner.

[timothyinMD]

Question for Mike:

If you think that children born out of wedlock will end up being poor, why do countries like Iceland or Sweden - where 70% of children are born out of wedlock - have one of the lowest child poverty rates on the planet ?

I think that he just tried to get a boost among the Christian fundies, but fails to understand that out-of-wedlock births are the FUTURE, even in America.

The glee with which you make that statement is disturbing.  Out-of-wedlock births are a terrible thing.  The best upbringing for a child is in a home with married, loving parents

[There Are Some Remedies Worse Than The Disease]

My neighbor down the hall who lives alone with her 15-month old son is a very nice girl and no doubt a much better parent than married teabagger exurbanite types.

[I'm Not a Witch]

Why isn't he fire-and-brimstoning Bristol Palin?

[Secretary Polnut]

Question for Mike:

If you think that children born out of wedlock will end up being poor, why do countries like Iceland or Sweden - where 70% of children are born out of wedlock - have one of the lowest child poverty rates on the planet ?

I think that he just tried to get a boost among the Christian fundies, but fails to understand that out-of-wedlock births are the FUTURE, even in America.

The glee with which you make that statement is disturbing.  Out-of-wedlock births are a terrible thing.  The best upbringing for a child is in a home with married, loving parents

You're going to be entertaining.

It's none of Huckabee's business.

There are a HELL of a lot of worse things in the world going on than having children out of wedlock.

All that matters is that children are loved and supported... who those parents are or is, has now increasingly being proven to be redundant.

[JohnnyLongtorso]

Huckabee's always been pretty extremist on social issues, he's just good at hiding it with his "aw shucks" personality, self-deprecating jokes, and pop culture references. That's probably the reason why Democrats usually worry most about him getting the nomination.

[Proud Lieberal from Northeast]

Unmarried people with children represents clear and present danger to the national and moral security of the United States. They ought to be shot.