Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said Wednesday he’s disappointed that President-elect Trump is considering former GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney to be his secretary of state.
Huckabee said on Fox News that Trump shouldn’t be considering a man who insulted him during a widely televised speech in March during the Republican primary race.
“Mitt did everything he could to derail Donald Trump,” Huckabee said. “He didn’t just go after him and say I disagree with his policy on immigration, I disagree with his policy on taxes. He attacked him on a personal level about his character, his integrity, his honor.”
Trump is said to be considering Romney as the nation’s top diplomat. He met with the former Massachusetts governor last weekend in New Jersey as a part of the transition process.
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich said Monday he’s urging Trump to pick former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani for the post instead.
Huckabee said the only way Romney should be considered for a post in the Trump Cabinet is if he publicly apologizes for his speech in Utah. During that speech, Romney called Trump a “phony,” a “fraud” and a “conman.”
“When you do that, there’s only one way that Mitt Romney could even be considered for a post like that and that is he goes to a microphone in a very public place, and he repudiates everything he said in that famous Salt Lake City speech,” Huckabee said.
Huckabee added Romney’s comments were outside the boundaries of politics as usual.
“That’s just beyond the normal political in-fighting that we all experience,” Huckabee said. “Political in-fighting is just part of the game. But, when you go after someone who is the nominee of your party, who has been duly nominated by the voters, you’re savaging the voters. You’re not just savaging Donald Trump.”
“It would be a real insult to all those Donald Trump voters.”
