Mike Huckabee explodes defending Kim Davis in Twitter battle with California’s Gavin Newsom

California Lieutenant Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee clashed online on Sunday when Huckabee attempted to compare Newsom to Kim Davis, the anti-LGBT clerk in Rowan County, Kentucky, CNN reported.

Huckabee accused Newsom and Democrats of ignoring bans on same-sex marriage in an interview with the conservative Daily Caller, saying, "Gavin Newsom in San Francisco as mayor, performed same-sex weddings even though it was illegal. Did he ever get put in jail? He most certainly did not."

The former Arkansas governor was referring to Newsom's move in February and March 2004 to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Newsom responded on Twitter, as seen below:

The California Supreme Court ordered the city to stop issuing the licenses on March 11 of that year, and voided the certificates issued under Newsom's order five months later. However, the federal Supreme Court would strike down Prop. 8, the state ban on marriage equality, as well as the federal Defense of Marriage Act, in 2013. Mother Jones called the ruling "vindication" for Newsom at the time.

Huckabee, who has won the support of four percent of GOP voters according to Real Clear Politics, then offered his own response:

Other Twitter users joined in the discussion, many of them mocking Huckabee: