Senior US Republican Mike Huckabee accused of 'bigotry' and 'racism' for tweet about 'gang members'

Believe it or not, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee ran for president on a nice-guy platform.

That was before he made bigoted comments about trangender rights, claimed he didn't remember Trump's infamous "grab them by the pussy" tape and said "removing God from our schools" was to blame for the Newton elementary school shooting. Oh, and he declared Robert Mueller's Russian investigation "was actually in his butt".

Now, Huckabee once again appealed to bigotry to get one-up on the opposition, tweeting a picture of five tattooed Hispanic men making hand signs associated with MS-13, a violent gang that operates primarily in Central America with members in the United States.

In a tweet suggesting that MS-13 gang members are supporters of Nancy Pelosi, who recently condemned the Trump administration policy of separating children from parents at the US-Mexico border, he wrote:

Nancy Pelosi introduces her campaign committee for the take back of the House.

Huckabee's tweet seemingly suggests that Pelosi's rallying cry to protect migrant children is comparable to helping MS-13, equating violent gang memes with Central American migrants, many of whom are seeking asylum.

The House Minority Leader recently ripped apart the zero-tolerance border policy in a speech given to Democratic lawmakers, calling out the cruelty of separating families, saying:

You come near our cubs, you got a problem. And we consider these [migrant] children our children.

You cannot do harm to these children, and in the name of the United States of America.

President Donald Trump has also insinuated that Pelosi supports the gang, after she criticised him for referring to undocumented immigrants as "animals".

Incidentally, the actual Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has several Hispanic members and a Hispanic chairman, Ben Ray Luján, who responded with his own tweet.

Others were quick to join Luján​ in calling out the tweet.

Some even likened it to Nazi propaganda.

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