Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee defended surveillance of American mosques during the Republican debate Tuesday night, saying mosques are “public places” that Muslims should be begging the FBI and others to enter in hopes of converting them.
Huckabee was responding to a question about whether preemptive surveillance of mosques violates Muslims’ First Amendment rights, to which he responded a firm “no.”
“You can go to any church in America, it’s a public place, you can listen,” the candidate said. “The point is, these are public places, and folks are invited to come.”
Huckabee went on to say someone “might just wanna listen” to the service. He also said if Islam “is as wonderful and peaceful as its adherents say, shouldn’t they be begging us to all come in and listen…and bring the FBI so we’d all want to convert to Islam?”
As governor, Huckabee decried Texas officials for subpoenaing pastors’ sermons after reports they used their sermons to bash an anti-gay discrimination ordinance.