Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee apologized in a Facebook post about comments he made about two former Northwestern students who were charged in connection with vandalism at Alice Millar Chapel in March.

The two students, Matthew Kafker and Anthony Morales, were arrested in connection with homophobic, anti-Semitic and racist graffiti found by University Police in Alice Millar. The graffiti included a swastika, drawings of male genitalia and the word “Trump.”

On Tuesday, Huckabee wrote a Facebook post and linked to an article about the two students published by the Conservative Tribune, a conservative advocacy website. The article called Kafker and Morales “Jewish,” and it did not say they were arrested in March.

In an editor’s note, the Conservative Tribune said it had made an error stating Kafker and Morales are Jewish. The note said the article was written “in accordance with our original source, The Gateway Pundit.”

“That description appears to be unfounded,” the editor’s note said. “We also neglected to note that the events described took place in March, not after the presidential election.”

In his initial Facebook post, Huckabee said Kafker and Morales are “two liberal, Jewish Northwestern students who were trying to smear Trump and his supporters.” Huckabee later wrote a second Facebook post saying his comments were not intended to be a “slur on Jews.”

“They’re two liberal, Jewish Northwestern students?” University President Morton Schapiro told The Daily on Wednesday after reading Huckabee’s post. “The anti-semitism is extraordinary.”

Huckabee wrote on Facebook that the Conservative Tribune article had appeared to be a new story due to a “posting error.”

“I didn’t remember the original story and assumed it was new,” Huckabee wrote on Wednesday. “For that mistake, I sincerely apologize.”

Kafker and Morales were indicted on 24 criminal charges, including institutional vandalism, hate crime to a place of worship and criminal damage to property. Both of them pleaded not guilty at their arraignments in May. The case is still pending, and Kafker and Morales are due back in court Nov. 21.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @peterkotecki