In the wake of Donald Trump’s sweeping victory on Super Tuesday, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is challenging establishment Republicans to unite behind the GOP front-runner if he becomes the nominee.
“The establishment Republicans are all bed-wetting over this,” Huckabee said Wednesday on Fox News’ “Fox and Friends.” “Don’t pretend that all of the voters who have gone out and voted for him are stupid. They are not stupid. … They’re angry, and they’re angry at the very establishment who is going nuts because Donald Trump is doing so well.”
The two-time GOP presidential candidate accused some Republicans of being overly dependent on Washington’s wealthy donor class.
“Three words: Follow the money. The donor class runs the political environment in this country, and people are waking up to that, and they are tired of it,” Huckabee said. “We’re having in many ways somewhat of a political revolution in the Republican Party.”
Huckabee’s comments come just one day after House Speaker Paul Ryan publicly criticized Trump for refusing to disavow the Ku Klux Klan.
“If a person wants to be the nominee of the Republican Party, there can be no evasion and no games. They must reject any group or cause that is built on bigotry,” Ryan said Tuesday on Capitol Hill.
Trump had been asked about support for his campaign from the KKK and David Duke by CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday, with Trump repeatedly saying he “didn’t know” about Duke or the white supremacist groups enough to disavow them. On Monday, Trump said he was unable to hear the question due to a bad earpiece.
Huckabee called on establishment Republicans to hold off on revolting against Trump and to stay faithful to the democratic process.
“We have an election process, not a selection process,” the former governor said.
“If we’re going to do a selection where some party bosses get together, and they close the doors, lock the doors and make the decision for us, then don’t waste our time by making us go through this long, lengthy, grueling process called an election,” Huckabee said.
Huckabee’s daughter is a senior adviser on the Trump campaign. The former Arkansas governor has not formally endorsed a candidate in the 2016 race.
