Former Arkansas governor and Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said last week that Social Security shouldn’t be changed or abolished, a position that’s not at odds with a GOP candidacy, he told CBS’ Bob Schieffer today.
Schieffer asked whether Huckabee’s position on Social Security made him sound more like a Democrat than a Republican.
Huckabee responded, “I think I said it more like an American.”
“Didn’t the government take that out of my check for all these years involuntarily?” asked Huckabee. “Why would you punish the recipients for following the rules they were supposed to play by?”
There’s key differences between Social Security and other government-funded benefits, such as Medicaid, a program for the poor and disabled, operate, said Huckabee.
Huckabee’s position is seen as atypical among Republican candidates seeking to rein in public spending on entitlement programs. But Huckabee has attempted to strike a populist tone in the early days of his presidential campaign, and the Social Security message fits within that image.
