DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Former Arkansas Gov. and possible presidential candiate Mike Huckabee has accused President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, of double standards in parenting, saying in an interview published Tuesday that the first family shelters its daughters from some things but allows them to listen to the music of Beyoncé.
The sharp rhetoric signals that, should he run for the Republican presidential nomination, Huckabee, a favorite of conservative Christians, would make cultural and social issues the cornerstones of his campaign.
While promoting his new book, the former Baptist pastor told People magazine, “I don’t understand how on one hand they can be such doting parents and so careful about the intake of everything — how much broccoli they eat and where they go to school … and yet they don’t see anything that might not be suitable” in Beyoncé’s lyrics. He also said Beyoncé’s choreography is “best left for the privacy of her bedroom.”
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In his book, Huckabee describes the Grammy Award-winning Beyoncé’s lyrics as “obnoxious and toxic mental poison.” He also accuses Beyoncé’s husband, rapper Jay-Z, of “exploiting his wife” like a “pimp.”
The first lady’s office declined to comment on Huckabee’s comments.
During a 2012, $40,000-per-ticket fundraiser in New York, the president thanked Beyoncé and Jay-Z for their friendship.
“Beyoncé could not be a better role model for my girls,” Obama said.
Beyoncé sang at Barack Obama’s second inauguration, as well at Mrs. Obama’s 50th birthday party at the White House.
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Associated Press writer Darlene Superville contributed from Washington.
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