The Republican presidential candidate claimed that the President is using the military to carry out “social experiments”.

Now, Huckabee has addressed President Obama’s nomination of Eric Fanning for Secretary of the Army, calling the move a “social experiment” and suggesting that Fanning was nominated only because of his sexuality.

He also called on Obama to stop treating the US Army as a social experiment to accommodate homosexuals.

But his appointment demonstrates that Mr. Obama and Mr. Carter want to keep pushing the military toward more openness toward gay men and lesbians, an administration official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to speak freely.

The American Military Partner Association, a non-profit and non-partisan organization, is the nation’s largest organization of the partners, spouses, families, and allies of America’s LGBT service members and veterans.

“Homosexuality is not a job qualification”, Huckabee, a former governor of Arkansas and ordained Baptist minister, said.

On Friday, the White House announced Obama has nominated Fanning as Army secretary, saying the official “brings many years of proven experience and exceptional leadership to this new role”.

“I commend President Obama on an outstanding nomination”.

“Mike Huckabee is so blinded by his own bigotry that he would oppose someone with two decades of national security experience just because of his sexual orientation”, said JoDee Winterhof, HRC Senior Vice President of Policy and Political Affairs, in a statement. However, Fanning’s experience, not his love life, is clearly the reason he’s stepping into the role, and Mike Huckabee is failing to acknowledge that. “Mike Huckabee’s naked prejudice and willingness to smear an experienced public servant shows he is unfit to be commander in chief”.

Advocacy groups said the nomination of an openly gay man to lead a US service branch was a significant sign of progress in protecting the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals serving in the world’s most powerful military.

An inquiry from CNN asking the Huckabee campaign to comment on Fanning’s qualifications was not immediately returned. “I am confident he will help lead America’s soldiers with distinction”. “I know he will strengthen our Army, build on its best traditions and prepare our ground forces to confront a new generation of challenges”, Carter said.