Former Republican politician and current TV host Mike Huckabee on Sunday offered his strong endorsement of former President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential race, saying Trump already has done more for America than any other president in 70 years.
Huckabee was a successful conservative governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007 who ran for president in 2008 and again in 2016 before dropping out and endorsing Trump.
He went on to host a Fox News show and has remained a popular commentator about our nation’s politics and culture.
Huckabee is also the beaming father of the current Arkansas governor, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who served as Trump’s press secretary for two years.
But most especially, he is a proud Christian.
As such, some have faulted the former pastor for supporting Trump.
Despite the criticism, Huckabee has remained a steadfast supporter of the former president’s campaigns, and on Monday, he explained why is backing Trump again in the 2024 race — and why he thinks you should too, even if you are a Christian.
“I endorsed, supported, and campaigned for Donald Trump,” Huckabee said during the monologue of his TBN show. “As president, he exceeded my expectations in implementing the ‘America First’ policies, and they were long overdue, to truly make America great again.”
Sure, Trump was a bit rough around the edges, he acknowledged. Huckabee said some of his own supporters could not understand how he could back the brash billionaire.
“I surprised most of my friends and even some of my enemies in supporting Donald Trump,” the former governor said. “He often said things that were cringeworthy. And some of the labels he affixed to political opponents and the media were harsh — if not accurate and incredibly funny. OK, I didn’t like all of his tweets or his comments from the podium.”
Huckabee then likened his decision to support Trump to selecting a surgeon.
“And when people ask, how could I support him? I say, well, it’s like choosing a doctor to do surgery on a member of my family,” the TBN host said.
“If my choice was between a kind, loving, praying surgeon, who had the bedside manner of a pastor but who had never successfully done that particular surgery, or I could pick a surgeon who was gruff, bombastic, and impatient, and who had the bedside manner of a schoolyard bully, but he had successfully done that surgery hundreds of times — I’d pick the guy with the questionable personality but the experienced and skillful surgical hands,” Huckabee said.
“Because, you see, voting for a president is not like being put on a church pulpit committee and hiring a pastor,” he said, explaining he selects people to work for him who are the best at what they do, not those who share all his personal values.
[firefly_embed]
[/firefly_embed]
“I will again personally support President Trump so he can finish what he started during his first term,” Huckabee said as he moved on to discuss Trump’s record in the White House.
“You see, I believe he accomplished more to make America great again than any president in my lifetime, and that goes back to [Dwight] Eisenhower,” who served until 1961, the former governor said.
“There were presidents who were more articulate and had a more engaging sense of humor, such as [John] Kennedy and [Ronald] Reagan,” Huckabee noted. “There were some who had great legislative savvy, such as Lyndon Johnson. Some were truly decent and kind human beings — Jimmy Carter, George Herbert Walker Bush.”
Yet, Huckabee said Trump led better than the others despite his mean tweets.
“But no president, no president, helped this country get steered away from the insanity of socialist economics and insane policies on energy, the military and the proper role of the courts as did Donald Trump,” the former governor said.
He argued that Trump is worthy of your vote despite his personal foibles.
“Hey, Donald Trump is far from perfect, but then, so am I,” Huckabee said. “And so are you. But I love my country, and I don’t want it to be in second place or third place. I want it to be first. And I’ll put up with a personality … that maybe at times will be vain and vulgar, but I’ll do it to make America great again.
“And that’s why I will support him again for president.”
While reports indicate many evangelical Christians who backed Trump in previous races are shifting their support to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis or another GOP candidate this time around, Huckabee made it clear he will be fighting for the nation’s 45th president to get a chance to finish what he started with a belated second term.
And he perfectly explained why.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.