Republican presidential candidate Mike
Huckabee on Saturday criticized President Barack Obama's nomination
of an openly gay man to lead the U.S. Army.
“It's clear President Obama is more
interested in appeasing America's homosexuals than honoring America's
heroes,” Huckabee, a vocal opponent of LGBT rights, wrote in a
Facebook post.
“Veterans suicide is out-of-control
and military readiness is dangerously low, yet Obama is so obsessed
with pandering to liberal interest groups he's nominated an openly
gay civilian to run the Army.”
If approved by the Senate, Eric
Fanning, 47, would become the first openly gay secretary of a
military branch.
(Related: Obama
nominates Eric Fanning, who is openly gay, to lead the Army.)
“Homosexuality is not a job
qualification. The U.S. military is designed to keep Americans safe
and complete combat missions, not conduct social experiments,”
Huckabee
added.
Fanning has previously served as Air
Force under secretary, deputy under secretary of the Navy and deputy
chief management officer of the Navy. Some of those posts required
Senate approval.