On Monday’s edition of “Fox & Friends,” former Arkansas Governor and current fringe GOP candidate Mike Huckabee insisted that Rowan County, Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis — whom he will be visiting in jail later today — belongs to a long line of constitutional scholars starting with Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Abraham Lincoln, all of whom defied legal precedent when it contradicted moral code.
Huckabee was merely reiterating comments he made on Sunday, when he told George Stephanopoulos that Davis followed her conscience much like former San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom. Huckabee believes, mistakenly, that Newsom violated federal law when he officiated same-sex marriages during the brief window in which they were legal in California.
“You’ve got Democrats who ignored the law when it was the law to have traditional marriage,” he said. “Gavin Newsom in San Francisco as mayor, performed same-sex weddings even though it was illegal. Did he ever get put in jail? He most certainly did not.”
While this alleged defiance would certainly place Newsom in an august panoply of political thinkers, there’s one problem with it — it didn’t happen, and Newsom took to Twitter to tell Huckabee as much.
. @GovMikeHuckabee you are dead wrong on the Kim Davis issue — we issued marriage licenses because we believed the law at that time
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) September 7, 2015
violated equal protection clause of constitution @GovMikeHuckabee. Once the CA Supreme Court (they interpret the constitution)
ᐧ— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) September 7, 2015
Once the court ordered me to stop, I did. I was never in contempt of court — unlike Kim Davis. Get your facts right @GovMikeHuckabee
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) September 7, 2015
Huckabee replied:
"It was only his 12th day as mayor of San Francisco, but @GavinNewsom decided…he was going to defy California law." – SF Chronicle 2/15/04
— Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) September 7, 2015
"@GavinNewsom pledges to make SF a sanctuary for illegal immigrants" – SF Chronicle, 4/22/07
— Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) September 7, 2015
"In 2004…[@GavinNewsom] allowed city hall to grant marriage licenses to gay couples, an act of civil disobedience…" – Newsweek, 1/16/09
— Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) September 7, 2015
To which Newsom said:
. @GovMikeHuckabee instead of trolling — why don't you reply to what I said specifically…just as I responded to what you said.
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) September 7, 2015
Huckabee, it seems, didn’t appreciate the accusation of “trolling”:
.@GavinNewsom What law on KY books re marriage did #KimDavis break? You, on other hand, broke CA law. (1/3)
— Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) September 7, 2015
.@GavinNewsom "The California Family Code states that marriage is a union between a man and a woman." – SF Chronicle, 2/15/04 (2/3)
— Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) September 7, 2015
"@GavinNewsom's decision to permit same-sex marriages…created a month-long carnival of civil disobedience inside…City Hall" – WaPo (3/3)
— Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) September 7, 2015
Watch the entire interview via Fox News below.
