Huckabee agrees with pro-slavery radio host: Sell poor criminals as property instead of jailing them

GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has made it a habit to make troubling statements publicly since throwing his hat into the ring.

On Thursday, Huckabee continued his streak by saying people convicted of crimes should be sold into slavery, ThinkProgress reports. He apparently made the comment while weighing in on the United States' criminal justice system during a spot on Iowa radio show Mickelson in the Morning.

Host Jan Mickelson said the modern criminal justice system has been "taken over by progressives," and said punishment should be modeled instead of the Bible's Old Testament Book of Exodus.

“It says, if a person steals, they have to pay it back two-fold, four-fold. If they don’t have anything, we’re supposed to take them down and sell them," he said.

It's better that prisoners be indentured so that they must "spend their time not sitting on their stump in a jail cell -- they're supposed to be working off debt... Wouldn't that be a better choice?" Mickelson asked.

“Well, it really would be,” Huckabee responded. “Sometimes the best way to deal with a nonviolent criminal behavior is what you just suggested.”

It's not the first time Mickelson has suggested the U.S. return to one of its worst historical legacies. In August, Mickelson asked, "Well, what's wrong with slavery?" while suggesting that undocumented immigrants be turned into slaves rather than deported.

Listen to the exchange, via ThinkProgress, here: