Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee
blames the “militant gay community” for a backlash against
so-called religious freedom bills.
Governors in Indiana and Arkansas on
Thursday signed revised versions of the bills after business leaders
and gay rights advocates voiced opposition to the measures. Critics
said that the broad language in the laws might be used by businesses to
refuse service to gay men and lesbians.
(Related: Indiana,
Arkansas governors sign revised “religious freedom” bills.)
Appearing on CNN, Huckabee lamented the
role corporations played in pressuring lawmakers to rewrite the
legislation.
“The reason that those corporations
put the pressure on Indiana and Arkansas was because the militant gay
community put the pressure on them,” Huckabee told host Michael
Smerconish.
“I found it a little hypocritical
when you have companies, and I love Walmart, [a] big company in my
home state, but they do business in China, for gosh sake, I mean, I
don't think the Chinese are exactly the paragon of human rights,”
he said.
Apple Computer is “selling Apple
computers in Saudi Arabia. Is Tim Cook going to pull out of there?
I don't think so. He doesn't mind making millions, if not billions
of dollars, in cultures and countries where human rights are really
an issue,” Huckabee added.
While both companies did speak out
against the legislation, neither threatened to pull out of Indiana or
Arkansas.
(Related: Tim
Cook calls “religious freedom” laws “dangerous.”)
In January, Huckabee left his Fox News
show, telling viewers he was considering a bid for the White House.