Mike Huckabee said in an interview on Wednesday that evangelical groups won't support his presidential campaign out of fear they would no longer be able to fundraise if Christian policies were to actually be put in place.
In an interview with Fox News pundit Todd Starnes on his podcast, the former governor of Arkansas was asked if he felt betrayed by evangelical leaders and organizations that have gravitated towards Ted Cruz or Marco Rubio.
"Well, certainly a sense of disappointment, and yet I do understand because, as I've often said, 'I don't go to them, I come from them,' but because of that I do understand them," Huckabee said. “A lot of them, quite frankly, I think they're scared to death that if a guy like me got elected, I would actually do what I said I would do, and that is, I would focus on the personhood of every individual. We would abolish abortion based on the Fifth and 14th Amendment. We would ignore the Supreme Court's same-sex marriage decision.”
Huckabee said that, as a result of his presidency, evangelical organizations would no longer be able to galvanize their supporters and fundraise.
“A lot of these organizations wouldn't have the ability to do urgent fundraising because if we slay the dragon, what dragon do they continue to fight? And so, for many of them, it could be a real detriment to their organization's abilities to gin up their supporters and raise the contributions, and I know that sounds cynical but, Todd, it’s just, it is what it is," Huckabee said.
Huckabee added that evangelicals were basing their support on secular grounds, instead of their faith in God.
"I think sometimes, while people say, ‘we’re praying about this, we’re asking God,’ that’s fine, but it seems like the criteria that I’ve been told for selecting candidates seems very secular," Huckabee said. "It’s about well, this person is polling well, this person has the cash. And I’m thinking, you know if these guys were going up against goliath they would’ve insisted that it was the big guy, with the king’s armor--they never would’ve allowed that shepherd boy with the five smooth stones, and with Gideon's army, they would’ve run for cover when God got gideon's army down to 300."