WASHINGTON — During a well-received speech to Republican Party insiders on Thursday, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee criticized Democrats for continuing to “insult the women of America.”
“Women I know are outraged the Democrats think women are nothing more than helpless and hopeless creatures whose only goal in life is to have government provide for them birth control medication,” Huckabee said at the Republican National Committee’s annual winter meeting in Washington.
“Women I know are smart, educated, intelligent, capable of doing anything that anyone else can do,” he said. “Our party stands for the recognition of the equality of women and the capacity of women.”
The potential 2016 Republican candidate for president said conservatives need to push back harder against the repeated political arguments from Democrats to scare women away from voting Republican.
“I think it’s time Republicans no longer accept listening to the Democrats talk about a war on women,” he said. “Because the fact is, the Republicans don’t have a war on women. They have a war for women. For them to be empowered to be something other than victims of their gender.”
Huckabee also said Democrats “insult the women of America by making them believe that they are helpless without Uncle Sugar coming in and providing for them a prescription each month for birth control because they cannot control their libido or their reproductive system without the help of the government.”
“Women across America need to stand up and say enough of that nonsense,” he said.
Huckabee, who ran for president in 2008, keeps a high-profile through his Fox News television show. While he opted against running in 2012, he has said he will consider a White House run again in 2016.
At the end of last year, Huckabee provoked more speculation that he might run by ending his national radio show and hinting that he has other projects planned for the future.
Huckabee pollster Bob Wickers, who worked for Huckabee’s campaign in 2008, also distributed a pair of polls to reporters indicating Huckabee leading polls of prospective Republicans in both Iowa and South Carolina.