Two Republican presidential candidates tied separate controversies over Cecil the Lion and Planned Parenthood together in one tweet in recent days.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee tweeted Tuesday that the lion was getting more attention than the Planned Parenthood story.
“That many in the national media are more concerned with #CecilTheLion than @PPact killing babies to harvest their organs is unconscionable,” he tweeted.
Huckabee was retweeted 258 times, favorited 304 times and met with affirming replies as well as jeers.
And Florida Sen. Marco Rubio tweeted Wednesday afternoon: “Look at all this outrage over a dead lion, but where is all the outrage over the planned parenthood dead babies.”
A Rubio spokesman said Wednesday that he had nothing to add to the tweet.
The message immediately drew heckles like “delete this” and “delete your account.” But it was also retweeted 528 times and favorited 613 times by mid-Wednesday afternoon.
Zimbabwean officials said Tuesday they are seeking a Minnesota dentist who killed Cecil, a popular lion and national figure in Zimbabwe. Planned Parenthood, meanwhile, has been in the national spotlight in the wake of a string of heavily-edited undercover videos that an anti-abortion group claims prove the group sells fetal tissue for profit.