Expecting Mike Huckabee to bash Donald Trump on the campaign trail? Don’t.
With Trump continuing to lead the polls nationally and in Iowa, Huckabee said Thursday that he will not join in with some of his fellow GOP 2016 candidates in attacking the real estate magnate. Huckabee told Fox News host Bill Hemmer that he’ll need Trump’s support if he becomes the nominee.
“Eventually you have to put your sights on the leader. Now, that’s Donald Trump. Rand Paul has already done that in New Hampshire,” Hemmer told Huckabee. “When do you put your sights on him?”
“I don’t,” Huckabee said. “I put my sights on the prize – on the rivals who want the same position. I look at this like I was trying out for quarterback of the football team. I want to get the job and take us to the Super Bowl because I play a better game, not because I broke the legs of everybody who’s trying out for the team.”
“And I think Republicans have made big mistakes in the past by eating each other alive in the primary, and then we have a totally ravaged candidate that goes up against the Democrat,” Huckabee said. “My philosophy is stick to my game plan, swim in my own lane, and explain to people why I should be president – not why somebody else shouldn’t, and let the voters sort it out, and I still think that’s the best strategy.”
“With that answer then, you’re leaving Donald Trump alone, right?” Hemmer asked the winner of the 2008 Iowa caucuses.
“Why should I attack him?” Huckabee said. “You know, Donald Trump may be the guy that I’m going to look to for support when I get the nomination, and there’s no way that it makes any sense for me to go out and attack somebody else on the ballot because we need to see ourselves as members of the same team trying out for the same position, and I don’t see any value in trying to tell people what’s wrong with Donald Trump.”
“He’s getting all the attention he needs without my help,” Huckabee said. “I just got to let people know what Mike Huckabee stands for, and why my experience and background is the right resume and fit to be president of the United States.”
While the former Arkansas governor pulled off a big victory in Iowa eight years ago, this go-around has been different. According to the latest RealClearPolitics polling average, Huckabee currently sits eighth with only 5 percent support. The former Fox News host was appearing live from the Iowa State Fair, which kicked off Thursday and runs until August 23.
