Mike Huckabee got into a discussion with Breitbart Radio’s Stephen Bannon about the influence of the GOP donor class on the party’s candidates. He revealed that at least three billionaires seemed likely to throw their weight — and massive sums of cash — behind him, until Huckabee refused to shut up about his pro-life and pro-natural marriage stances (starts around 6:54):
STEPHEN BANNON: The [donor class is] also quite uncomfortable with the moral issues like gay marriage and issues like the right to life. The donor class does not want to – they think that that is a bunch of rubes or that is a bunch of – you know, guys that are un-clubbable. They can’t go into the country clubs, right? You bring all that additional baggage.
MIKE HUCKABEE: Well, for me it’s not baggage; for me it’s the integrity of our positions that is consistent. But at least three different major potential donors, all of whom [are] billionaires, could have wonderfully funded a super PAC for me and raised tens of millions of dollars and given personally tens of millions of dollars, and let me just say, in a couple of cases have already given tens of millions to other candidates. Let me just tell you – I talked to them, they liked a lot of my message. But when it came down to the fact that they said, ‘Well, we just want you to lay off the issues of sanctity of life, and don’t talk about marriage.’ And I said, ‘I can’t do that. You know, I just can’t. Because to me these are issues of heart. They’re issues of principle. I don’t think that our country and culture is made better by the elimination and eradication of 60 million unborn children in the past 42 years. And I think it’s akin to the savagery of slavery. We’ve gotta stop it.’ And with that, it was kind of, ‘Well, thank you very much,’ and now they’re giving to these other candidates.
Thomas Valentine is a researcher for the American Principles Project and a junior at the Franciscan University of Steubenville.
