"What did I say that wasn't true?"

Huckabee then challenged the media outlets that covered the comment.

“What did I say that wasn’t true?” he asked. “Listen to what I said. It was actually a tribute to Senator Kennedy and an observation that he did what Americans would want to do, follow the best healthcare they can find.”

The former Republican governor then repeated a similar argument to the one he made the week before, saying Kennedy’s death is a strong argument against Democratic attempts to reform health care because the late senator did not choose to “take pain pills and die.”

“The irony is that the final months of Senator Kennedy’s life are the very reason we shouldn’t let government take us to the Pelosi, Frank plan,” Huckabee said. “When diagnosed with brain cancer, Senator Kennedy didn’t do as President Obama suggested and take a pain pill and ride it out at home. He went to the best medical facilities in the world, had surgery and sought to live as long and as strong as possible.”