Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who is considering a run for the Republican presidential nomination, said on Sunday that “personal attacks” on Bill and Hillary Clinton are not necessary in the 2016 race.
Huckabee’s comment came hours ahead of what is expected to be Hillary Clinton’s announcement that she will make a second attempt at capturing the White House.
Asked about Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul, who has referred to Bill Clinton as a “sexual predator,” Huckabee said those kinds of “personal attacks” can be left out of public debate.
“I’ve never felt that that’s really a wholesome way to enter politics,” Huckabee said on ABC’s “This Week.”
“I think the issues are far more important than some of the personal issues,” he said. “At least if you’re a candidate running against another person. Now, you’re not going to be able to stop the press, you’re not going to be able to stop the bloggers. There’s going to be plenty of people to bring that stuff up, whether it’s about [Hillary] or about every other candidate. But some of us have got to decide that we would like to have a campaign bout the future of America.”
Huckabee said that he is most qualified to run against Hillary Clinton in a general election because he ran against the “Clinton machine” in Arkansas, where Bill Clinton also served as governor.
Hillary Clinton is expected to make her candidacy official around noon on Sunday.
