Stewart Grills Huckabee About Religion’s Role In Government (VIDEO)

Jon Stewart tried unsuccessfully Wednesday night to pin down Mike Huckabee over what place religion has, if any, in government.

In the nearly half hour interview, Stewart repeatedly asked Huckabee whether it was right to base policy decisions on scripture, particularly given the separation of church and state. And Stewart said it was discomforting that Huckabee, in his opinion, seemed to downplay his religious rhetoric when talking to people outside the party base.

“When you’re speaking to the base you’re much more explicit about Christian values and religion than when you’re talking to the public at large,” Stewart said.

“At times, you soft-sell something that I think is what’s maybe more in your heart than you let on, and I don’t know why people wouldn’t embrace it,” he added.

Stewart also noted Huckabee’s praise for controversial historian David Barton, an evangelical Christian who has claimed that Jesus didn’t believe in the minimum wage, and that God, not man, delineated nations’ borders. Huckabee defended his praise of Barton, saying that he was a respected historian with well-sourced works.

“I think the best thing to counter with David Barton is read his material, and look for yourself. If you don’t believe he is sourcing it with accuracy, then take issue,” Huckabee said.

Stewart cut in, arguing that that missed the point about how Barton infuses religion into his works. To back up that point, Stewart then read some of Barton’s quotes, such as his claims that, according to the Bible, the minimum wage and the estate and capital gains taxes are wrong.

Huckabee then tried to clarify Barton’s arguments by telling the parable behind Barton’s claim regarding the minimum wage.

“I think what David was saying was there’s not a hard and fast policy, but there is a principle,” Huckabee said.

“There’s also parables in there about turning people into salt,” Stewart responded, “but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have any in your diet.”

Huckabee then responded with a further clarification, to which Stewart shot back, “don’t quote Jesus, quote Andrew Carnegie.”

Finally, Huckabee said the conversation was moot because Barton had never run for public office. That didn’t satisfy Stewart.

“But you’re gonna run for president, and you call him a historian who you think should teach our children in pubic school,” Stewart said. “Now that is the intersection of state and religion that makes some people — non evangelical Christians — uncomfortable.”

But Huckabee again deflected that criticism by making an unrelated point that some other people were uncomfortable with history textbooks that focused more on Madonna than on George Washington.

Watch the videos below:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3