Fox host Geraldo Rivera scolded former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee on Monday for invoking the specter of the Holocaust in his criticism of the Iran nuclear deal.
“You offended many, many people in the Jewish community,” Rivera said during Monday’s airing of Fox News’ “The Five,” adding, “I’m begging you to apologize.”
But Huckabee insisted he has nothing to apologize for. “Three times I’ve been to Auschwitz. When I talked about the oven door, I have stood at that oven door. I know exactly what it looks like — 1.1 million people killed,” Huckabee said.
Huckabee’s comment on Sunday that the Iran nuclear deal negotiated by President Obama would “take the Israelis and march them to the door of the oven” has since been met with heavy criticism from many in the Jewish community.
“I love you. You would be a great president,” Rivera told Huckabee. “You have the temperance. You have the experience. But as a Jew — and I have to tell you, with people who work in the Anti-Defamation League and relatives on both sides, it was inappropriate. There are some places you cannot go.”
“Why do we have the Holocaust Museum in Washington? Why do we have Yad Vashem in Jerusalem?… How do we not bring up that language?” Huckabee quipped.
“Because they are sacred,” answered Rivera. “They are not to be politicized.”
Watch the full exchange between Rivera and Huckabee here.