Mike Huckabee wants you to know that he wasn’t criticizing actress and single person Natalie Portman when he suggested in a media interview that her pregnancy was glamorizing the idea of having children outside of marriage.
“I did not ‘slam’ or ‘attack’ Natalie Portman, nor did I criticize the hardworking single mothers in our country,” Mr. Huckabee said Friday via a statement on his Facebook page.

Possible 2012 presidential candidate Huckabee went on to say that he had talked about Portman – who is engaged to her baby’s father – in the context of discussion of his new book, “A Simple Government.”

IN PICTURES: Will these Republicans run in 2012?

The first chapter of that book is titled “The Most Important Form of Government is a Father, Mother, and Children.”

“My comments were about the statistical reality that most single moms are very poor, under-educated, can’t get a job, and if it weren’t for government assistance, their kids would be starving to death,” said Huckabee on Facebook. “That’s the story that we’re not seeing, and it’s unfortunate that society often glorifies and glamorizes the idea of having children out of wedlock.”

Raising children with two parents is hard enough. Single mothers have an even tougher time of it, for sure. But is Huckabee right about the demographics of single motherdom there?

Well, there are a number of different ways of measuring that statistic, but it appears that most single moms are not, in fact, poor.

According to a Census Bureau study issued last November, 29.9 percent of families headed by a single mom have incomes below the poverty line. Of families headed by a single father, 16.9 percent live in poverty.

That’s a lot, but it is far from a majority.

However, the poverty rate for families headed by a married couple is only 5.8 percent, according to the same study. So it is true that single mothers are much more likely to live in poverty than married counterparts.

Perhaps Huckabee meant to refer to unwed teenage mothers, instead of single moms in general. Two-thirds of families begun by young unmarried moms are poor, according to The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.

Mike Huckabee wants you to know that he wasn’t criticizing actress and single person Natalie Portman when he suggested in a media interview that her pregnancy was glamorizing the idea of having children outside of marriage.
“I did not ‘slam’ or ‘attack’ Natalie Portman, nor did I criticize the hardworking single mothers in our country,” Mr. Huckabee said Friday via a statement on his Facebook page.

Possible 2012 presidential candidate Huckabee went on to say that he had talked about Portman – who is engaged to her baby’s father – in the context of discussion of his new book, “A Simple Government.”

IN PICTURES: Will these Republicans run in 2012?

The first chapter of that book is titled “The Most Important Form of Government is a Father, Mother, and Children.”

“My comments were about the statistical reality that most single moms are very poor, under-educated, can’t get a job, and if it weren’t for government assistance, their kids would be starving to death,” said Huckabee on Facebook. “That’s the story that we’re not seeing, and it’s unfortunate that society often glorifies and glamorizes the idea of having children out of wedlock.”

Raising children with two parents is hard enough. Single mothers have an even tougher time of it, for sure. But is Huckabee right about the demographics of single motherdom there?

Well, there are a number of different ways of measuring that statistic, but it appears that most single moms are not, in fact, poor.

According to a Census Bureau study issued last November, 29.9 percent of families headed by a single mom have incomes below the poverty line. Of families headed by a single father, 16.9 percent live in poverty.

That’s a lot, but it is far from a majority.

However, the poverty rate for families headed by a married couple is only 5.8 percent, according to the same study. So it is true that single mothers are much more likely to live in poverty than married counterparts.

Perhaps Huckabee meant to refer to unwed teenage mothers, instead of single moms in general. Two-thirds of families begun by young unmarried moms are poor, according to The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.

Fox News host Mike Huckabee claims Oscar winner Natalie Portman is a bad role model for America -- all because she got knocked up before marriage.
Huckabee went on a radio show Monday and said, "One of the most troubling things is that people see a Natalie Portman or some other Hollywood starlet that boasts of, hey look, we're having children, we're not married, but we're having children and they're doing just fine."

Portman is engaged to her baby daddy -- co-star Benjamin Millepied.

Huckabee -- a Republican who could make a run for the White House -- added, "There aren't really a lot of single moms out there that are making millions of dollars each year by being in a movie"

"I think it gives a distorted image that not everybody hires nannies and caretakers and nurses. Most single moms are very poor, uneducated, can't get a job, and if it weren't for government assistance, their kids would be starving to death and would not get healthcare."

So far, Portman has yet to respond.

Fox News host Mike Huckabee claims Oscar winner Natalie Portman is a bad role model for America -- all because she got knocked up before marriage.
Huckabee went on a radio show Monday and said, "One of the most troubling things is that people see a Natalie Portman or some other Hollywood starlet that boasts of, hey look, we're having children, we're not married, but we're having children and they're doing just fine."

Portman is engaged to her baby daddy -- co-star Benjamin Millepied.

Huckabee -- a Republican who could make a run for the White House -- added, "There aren't really a lot of single moms out there that are making millions of dollars each year by being in a movie"

"I think it gives a distorted image that not everybody hires nannies and caretakers and nurses. Most single moms are very poor, uneducated, can't get a job, and if it weren't for government assistance, their kids would be starving to death and would not get healthcare."

So far, Portman has yet to respond.