Mike Huckabee: I wish I could have claimed to be transgender to ' shower with the girls' in high school
In video highlighted Tuesday by BuzzFeed, Huckabee suggested that, in the current climate of increased acceptance for transgender rights, people will lie about their gender identity in order to ogle women in bathrooms. In fact, Huckabee said he would have done exactly that as a teen.
"Now, I wish that someone told me that when I was in high school that I could have felt like a woman when it came time to take showers in PE," Huckabee said. "I'm pretty sure that I would have found my feminine side and said, 'Coach, I think I'd rather shower with the girls today.'"
Huckabee's remarks prompted laughter from the audience.
"You're laughing because it sounds so ridiculous doesn't it?" he asked the crowd.
Huckabee's campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider about the clip.
According to BuzzFeed, Huckabee made the comments earlier this year at the 2015 National Religious Broadcasters Convention in Nashville, Tennessee. The video was posted on YouTube over the weekend by the conservative site WorldNetDaily.
Huckabee, a prominent social conservative, is known for giving colorful and occasionally controversial quotes on various topics. For example, he blasts rapper Jay Z in his latest book for "arguably crossing the line from husband to pimp by exploiting his wife as a sex object?"