Mike Huckabee Is Seriously Deranged

by Todd Beeton [courtesy of MyDD]

Gotta wonder what happened to Mike Huckabee. At his peak, he was one of the most politically savvy candidates running in either party, always at the ready with a clever quip that made you chuckle. Not so his disturbing quip today during his speech at the NRA, referring to a bang heard in the background:

"That was Barack Obama, he just tripped off a chair, he's getting ready to speak," said the former Arkansas governor, to audience laughter. "Somebody aimed a gun at him and he dove for the floor."

It's actually really disturbing to watch because you have the sense that he knows it was a stupid thing to say; there's this really long uncomfortable pause after he says it as though he was trying to think of a way to retract it but just couldn't think of one.

Watch it below:

Jeffrey Feldman, whose new book, Outright Barbarous, explores the right's tendency to evoke violent language in a political context, reminds us that this isn't the first time Huckabee has joked about shooting a presidential candidate. Last year, on a hunting trip, Huckabee joked about shooting Mitt Romney. That at least had the benefit of context, although, obviously, it was still really twisted. The only context here was the fact that Huck was speaking at the NRA, even though, as Ben Smith notes, the joke was even off their message. I have to agree with Feldman that Huckabee should face consequences.

For joking about the assassination of Sen. Obama, Mike Huckabee should be removed from the rosters of all the various cable and network stations on which he regularly appears.

Of course, perhaps Huck already has. This episode probably single-handedly disqualified him from being McCain's VP, or at least it gave McCain the excuse he needed to cross him off his list.