FLOTUS Defended by Huckabee and Christie
The Wall Street Journal reports:
Two prominent Republicans, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and likely 2012 presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, came to the defense of First Lady Michelle Obama’s efforts to reduce childhood obesity.
Speaking on separate Sunday talk shows, the Republicans said they stood behind Mrs. Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign despite conservative criticism.
Mr. Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor who shed many pounds himself when in office, said on “Fox News Sunday” that obesity is a problem threatening the welfare of the entire country.
“What Michelle Obama is proposing is not that the government tells you that you can’t eat dessert,” Mr. Huckabee said. Rather, the first lady wants Americans “to recognize that we have a serious obesity crisis–which we do,” Mr. Huckabee said.
Recently, prominent voices on the right including Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, 2008 vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh have criticized the antiobesity efforts. They say it’s a sign of overbearing government.
This month Mr. Limbaugh said Mrs. Obama is “requiring what everybody can and can’t eat. She’s demanding that everybody basically eat cardboard and tofu. No calories, no fat, no nothing.”
Mr. Huckabee said many young people can’t pass the physical necessary to join the military.
“That’s serious,” he said. “This is no longer just a health issue [or] an economic issue. It’s becoming an issue of national security.”
Mr. Christie, appearing on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” said criticism of the first lady’s campaign is “unnecessary.”
“I think it’s a really good goal to encourage kids to eat better,” said the New Jersey governor, who has spoken about his own girth.
“I struggled with my weight for 30 years,” Mr. Christie said Sunday. “If a kid can avoid that…more power to them and I think the first lady is speaking out well.”
