Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a potential 2012 Republican presidential candidate, claims he did not “slam” or “attack” unwed pregnant Hollywood starlet Natalie Portman when he said she set an unrealistic example for unmarried mothers.
Last week, Huckabee appeared on “The Michael Medved Show” and said the 29-year-old Portman, who had just received the Best Actress Oscar for her performance in “Black Swan,” gave a “distorted image” of single motherhood because most unwed moms don’t have the same resources as the Academy Award winning actress.
“[O]ne of the things that’s troubling is that people see a Natalie Portman who boasts, ‘We’re not married but we’re having these children and they’re doing just fine,'” Huckabee told Michael Medved. “I think it gives a distorted image. It’s unfortunate that we glorify and glamorize the idea of out-of-wedlock children.”
Portman and her baby’s father, Benjamin Millepied, with whom she worked with on “Black Swan,” announced their engagement at the end of last year.
Huckabee said in a statement Saturday that he did not “slam” or “attack” Portman, but was just trying to reveal the “statistical reality” of the majority of single moms’ economic circumstances, reports ABC News and OK Magazine.
“Natalie is an extraordinary actor, very deserving of her recent Oscar and I am glad she will marry her baby’s father,” Huckabee said. “However, contrary to what the Hollywood media reported, I did not ‘slam’ or ‘attack’ Natalie Portman, nor did I criticize the hardworking single mothers in our country.”
“My comments were about the statistical reality that most single moms are very poor, under-educated, can’t get a job, and if it weren’t for government assistance, their kids would be starving to death,” Huckabee added. “That’s the story that we’re not seeing, and it’s unfortunate that society often glorifies and glamorizes the idea of having children out of wedlock.”