Earlier this week, Mike Huckabee ripped into the Republican Party for what he feels is its insufficient willingness to take a public stand against gay marriage, declaring that he is “utterly exasperated” with the GOP and its leadership on the issue. He threatened to leave the party and take a bunch of “God-fearing, Bible-believing people” with him unless the party speaks out more forcefully against gay rights.

Predictably, the National Organization for Marriage hailed Huckabee as a hero today, praising him for “speaking for millions of Americans who are sick of Republican elitists remaining silent and refusing to fight for the survival of marriage.” The anti-gay organization echoed Huckabee’s complaints and similarly warned that “millions of conservatives will abandon [the GOP] and join with officials who will fight” if the party does not take a stand on this issue:

The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) today praised Governor Mike Huckabee for his comments calling out Republicans for failing to stand strong for marriage in the face of the unconscionable decision of the US Supreme Court to allow lower court decisions redefining marriage to take effect without so much as even considering their merits. Huckabee told an interviewer that if Republicans abdicate on marriage and abortion he would leave the party and become an Independent. “I’ll start finding people that have guts to stand,” he pledged.

“Governor Huckabee is exactly right and is speaking for millions of Americans who are sick of Republican elitists remaining silent and refusing to fight for the survival of marriage, the principal building block of society and the foundation of civilization,” said Brian S. Brown, president of NOM. “Republicans who remain silent on marriage do so at their own peril and risk losing elections across the country. If conservatives see Republican candidates fail to lead on marriage — or worse, come out in favor of redefining marriage — then conservatives will abandon those candidates.”

Brown said that some Republican leaders were actively supporting candidates who are not only in favor of same-sex ‘marriage,’ but also support abortion. House Speaker John Boehner and the National Republican Campaign Committee are actively supporting Carl DeMaio (CA-52) and Richard Tisei (MA-6), both of whom are campaigning in favor of gay ‘marriage’ and support abortion.

“NOM has joined with other groups to actively campaign against Carl DeMaio and Richard Tisei, along with Oregon Republican US Senate candidate Monica Wehby, because they are antithetical to the Republican platform and GOP principles,” said Brown. “We refuse to follow the leaders in Washington as if we were sheep expected to dutifully support candidates whose positions are an insult to conservatives and will severely damage the nation. We are going to do our best to defeat these candidates because they are wholly unworthy of holding high office.”

Brown noted that some prominent Republicans such as Sen. Ted Cruz, Sen. Mike Lee, Rep. Tim Huelskamp and others had condemned the US Supreme Court’s decision to allow the redefinition of marriage to proceed apace in five states.

“We are grateful for those leaders who have spoken out to condemn the Supreme Court for their unprincipled and outrageous decision to allow the redefinition of marriage to occur in these states,” Brown said. “We are prepared to work tirelessly to support them and others who lead in the fight to preserve marriage. But Governor Huckabee is right. If more Republican leaders do not speak up and join the fight, then millions of conservatives will abandon them and join with officials who will fight. Marriage is on the line in our country, and it’s time for people to get off the bench and into the battle.”