Did Mike Huckabee Really Say This?

Buzzfeed reported on an interview that former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee had with Todd Starnes on Fox News Radio.

Starnes asked him if he felt betrayed by evangelical leaders and evangelical organizations as they seem to have gravitated toward U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) or U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL).

How Huckabee responded is absolutely shocking.

“Well, certainly a sense of disappointment, and yet I do understand because, as I’ve often said, ‘I don’t go to them, I come from them,’ but because of that I do understand them,” Huckabee said. “A lot of them, quite frankly, I think they’re scared to death that if a guy like me got elected, I would actually do what I said I would do, and that is, I would focus on the personhood of every individual. We would abolish abortion based on the Fifth and 14th Amendment. We would ignore the Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage decision.”

He continued stating that a Huckabee presidency would hamper their fundraising.

“A lot of these organizations wouldn’t have the ability to do urgent fundraising because if we slay the dragon, what dragon do they continue to fight? And so, for many of them, it could be a real detriment to their organization’s abilities to gin up their supporters and raise the contributions, and I know that sounds cynical but, Todd, it’s just, it is what it is,” Huckabee said.

Not only that, but apparently if we truly prayed about our decision, instead of using “secular criteria” we would choose him.

“I think sometimes, while people say, ‘we’re praying about this, we’re asking God,’ that’s fine, but it seems like the criteria that I’ve been told for selecting candidates seems very secular,” Huckabee said. “It’s about well, this person is polling well, this person has the cash. And I’m thinking, you know if these guys were going up against goliath they would’ve insisted that it was the big guy, with the king’s armor—they never would’ve allowed that shepherd boy with the five smooth stones, and with Gideon’s army, they would’ve run for cover when God got gideon’s army down to 300.”

I’m really at a loss for words here.  I mean, really, I’m flabbergasted that a candidate would have the hubris to say these things.  I understand that he is frustrated, but to demean evangelical leaders and evangelical organizations like this because they are not supporting his candidacy is absolutely outrageous. There are a variety of reasons people have decided to not support him. I highly doubt a concern that their organization will no longer serve a purpose is one of them or an inability to do “urgent fundraising” another (who exactly is he talking about here anyway?). This is not the way to get people in your corner.

You can listen for yourself below.

https://soundcloud.com/buzzfeedandrew/todd-starnes-interviews-huckabee

Disclosure: This writer has endorsed U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) for President.