--- title: GOP's Mike Huckabee Questions the Obamas' Parenting of Sasha and Malia description: He chastised the Obamas for encouraging their daughters' love for Beyoncé. canonical: https://time.com/3665383/huckabee-questions-obamas-parenting/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-01-13T15:25:06.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:05:23.672Z article:section: Politics og:title: Huckabee Knocks the Obamas for Encouraging Their Daughters to Like Beyoncé og:description: Parenting advice and criticism from a potential 2016 presidential candidate. og:url: https://time.com/3665383/huckabee-questions-obamas-parenting/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt828da053370c6fb9/69877999cd6848c367099108/huckabee1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Citizens United And Americans For Prosperity Foundation Host Leading Conservatives For Freedom Summit og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Huckabee Knocks the Obamas for Encouraging Their Daughters to Like Beyoncé twitter:description: Parenting advice and criticism from a potential 2016 presidential candidate. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt828da053370c6fb9/69877999cd6848c367099108/huckabee1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Huckabee Knocks the Obamas for Encouraging Their Daughters to Like Beyoncé ## Video: Mike Huckabee's Three-Day Tour of Israel [Watch (HLS stream): Mike Huckabee's Three-Day Tour of Israel](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ZJCJ85HQ.m3u8) (5:24)  _Published 2009-08-19. The former Arkansas governor toured Jerusalem and the West Bank as the guest of a controversial group that advocates Jewish settlements_ by [Sandra Sobieraj Westfall / People](https://time.com/author/people/) ## Sandra Sobieraj Westfall / People Jan 13, 2015 3:25 PM UTC  Mike Huckabee speaks at the Freedom Summit on April 12, 2014 in New Hampshire. Mike Huckabee speaks at the Freedom Summit on April 12, 2014 in New Hampshire.Darren McCollester—Getty Images by [Sandra Sobieraj Westfall / People](https://time.com/author/people/) ## Sandra Sobieraj Westfall / People Jan 13, 2015 3:25 PM UTC First, it was [Beyoncé](http://www.people.com/people/beyonce%5Fknowles) and [Jay Z](http://www.people.com/people/news/category/0,,personsTax:JayZ,00.html) up for [scolding by conservative Republican Mike Huckabee](http://www.people.com/article/mike-huckabee-slams-jay-z-beyonce-pimp-obama). Now it’s Barack and [Michelle Obama](http://www.people.com/people/michelle%5Fobama)‘s turn. In an interview about his [new book](https://fbmacmillan.com/smp/godgunsgrit/index.html), _God, Guns, Grits and Gravy_, Huckabee tells PEOPLE he doesn’t get how the Obamas can encourage [their daughters’ love for Beyoncé](http://www.people.com/article/michelle-obama-frozen-daughters-too-old). Especially, the former Arkansas governor and Baptist minister says, if the president and first lady ever actually listened to the lyrics to – or seen a [performance of](http://www.peoplestylewatch.com/people/stylewatch/package/article/0,,20768375%5F20780110,00.html) Beyoncé’s steamy “Drunk in Love.” The Obamas “are excellent and exemplary parents in many ways,” Huckabee says. “That’s the whole point. I don’t understand how on one hand they can be such doting parents and so careful about the intake of everything – how much broccoli they eat and where they go to school and making sure they’re kind of sheltered and shielded from so many things – and yet they don’t see anything that might not be suitable for either a preteen or a teen in some of the lyrical content and choreography of Beyoncé, who has sort of a regular key to the door” of the White House. Beyoncé, Jay Z and their daughter, Blue Ivy, [were at the White House last January](http://stylenews.peoplestylewatch.com/2014/01/20/beyonce-randi-rahm-michelle-obama-birthday-party/) for Mrs. Obama’s [exclusive 50th birthday bash](http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20777715,00.html) and the first lady has taken her girls to several Beyoncé concerts. The singer, criticized in Huckabee’s book for “obnoxious and toxic mental poison in the form of song lyrics” and dance moves “best left for the privacy of her bedroom,” was also featured prominently at the president’s [second Inauguration in 2013](http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20666808,00.html). The first lady’s office had no response to Huckabee’s comments. _This_ [_article_](http://www.people.com/article/mike-huckabee-questions-obamas-parenting) _originally appeared on_ [_People.com_](http://www.people.com)_,_ [_read the whole story at People_](http://www.people.com/article/mike-huckabee-questions-obamas-parenting)_._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3665383/huckabee-questions-obamas-parenting/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3665383/huckabee-questions-obamas-parenting/"},"headline":"Huckabee Knocks the Obamas for Encouraging Their Daughters to Like Beyoncé","datePublished":"2015-01-13T15:25:06.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:05:23.672Z","description":"Parenting advice and criticism from a potential 2016 presidential candidate","url":"https://time.com/3665383/huckabee-questions-obamas-parenting/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election topic","Barack Obama","celebrities","Beyonce","Michelle Obama","Jay-z","malia obama","mike huckabee"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt828da053370c6fb9/69877999cd6848c367099108/huckabee1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sandra Sobieraj Westfall / People"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt828da053370c6fb9/69877999cd6848c367099108/huckabee1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Citizens United And Americans For Prosperity Foundation Host Leading Conservatives For Freedom Summit","caption":"Mike Huckabee speaks at the Freedom Summit on April 12, 2014 in New Hampshire.","creditText":"Darren McCollester—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3665383/huckabee-questions-obamas-parenting/","name":"Huckabee Knocks the Obamas for Encouraging Their Daughters to Like Beyoncé"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Mike Huckabee's Three-Day Tour of Israel","description":"The former Arkansas governor toured Jerusalem and the West Bank as the guest of a controversial group that advocates Jewish settlements","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/ZJCJ85HQ/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2009-08-19T21:07:31.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ZJCJ85HQ.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3665383/huckabee-questions-obamas-parenting/","duration":"PT5M24S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3665383/huckabee-questions-obamas-parenting/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```