Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee on Sunday responded to a question about Donald Trump by saying the “dumbest thing” a presidential candidate can do right now is respond to questions about Donald Trump.
Asked if he believed Trump has “staying power,” Huckabee said, “You don’t worry about Donald Trump.”
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“He’s a force to be reckoned with, but you don’t reckon with him by dealing with it,” Huckabee told “Fox News Sunday” host Shannon Bream, who described Trump as a “tsunami.”
“He’s getting 10 times the amount of coverage than any candidate is getting and the dumbest thing a candidate can do right now is give him more coverage by answering all the Trump questions,” Huckabee added.
Instead, the GOP presidential candidate said that he’s focused on talking about his campaign and his issues.
“In time that’s what’s going to be more important than simply reacting to any other candidate … We need to be swimming in our own lane,” Huckabee said.
Huckabee just returned from Israel where he met with “a number of officials,” including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the Iran deal, as well as his campaign. A staunch opponent of the deal, Huckabee has called it idiotic and likened it to the events of the Holocaust.
The candidate was asked about the recent endorsement by Democratic Rep. Jerrold Nadler — the only Jewish New Yorker in Congress to approve the deal; Obama penned a letter to Nadler urging his support, writing that “no administration has done more for Israel’s security.”
“Why isn’t that good enough for you?” Bream asked.
“It’s not true,” Huckabee responded, adding that “it’s laughable on its face.” “It’s balloon juice for the president to get out there and pretend that this deal is a good one,” Huckabee said, comparing it to letting a 10th grader grade his own algebra exams or letting Hillary Clinton handle her own server. It’s all “nonsense,” he added. A recent NBC/Wall Street Journal Poll found Huckabee’s support in the single digits. Though Huckabee only polled at 6% — Trump was in first with 23% in the same August poll — he did not slip after the first Republican debate like other candidates. When asked about the plan for moving up, Huckabee appeared not all that concerned. “A lot of people think the polls at this point matter … what really matters right now is building organization and structure in the early states.”
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