Mike Huckabee announced last night, on his Fox Network show, that after careful consideration he would "not seek the Republican nomination for President this year."
All the factors say go, but my heart says no," Huckabee, who was considered the GOP frontrunner in several national polls, said on his Fox News Channel show.
The show is normally prerecorded before it airs at 8 p.m. ET, but Huckabee saved the last 10 minutes of tonight’s broadcast to make his announcement live.
"The past few months have been times of deep personal reflection," Huckabee said. "Even though I wasn't actively establishing a campaign organization or seeking financial support to run again, polls have consistently put me at or near the top to be the Republican nominee."
"But I know that under the best of circumstances, being President is a job that takes one to the limit of his or her human capacity," he continued. "I can't know or predict the future, but I know for now my answer is clear and firm: I will not seek the Republican nomination for President this year."
Huckabee's announcement below:
While other GOP presidential candidates and potential candidates are starting to give out reactions, in what was obviously preplanned, Donald Trump gave the post script immediately following Huckabee's announcement.
While the news of a letter sent to Huckabees inner circle made the rounds yesterday where he informed them that he couldn't tell them before the official announcement, it was obvious from the on-the-heels Trump reaction that Huckabee had informed Donald Trump prior to his live announcement.
Back in mid April it was reported that Mike Huckabee and Donald Trump had a one-on-one sit down meeting after which Huckabee stated he was left with the impression that Trump was going to run for President.
Jon Huntsman has also emailed a reaction to the news out, via Hot Air, and Huckabee and Johnson had also met previously over dinner, but the difference between after the fact email from Huntsman and the immediate on the scene statement by Trump could be indicative of more to come by way of Trump/Huckabee.
While most are reporting Huckabee's announcement with a simple mention of Trump's follow up, I am left with questions:
Will there be a Huckabee endorsement of Trump if Trump declares he is running?
Could there be a Trump/Huckabee ticket in the offing?
With Huckabee's following and Trumps knack for publicity wouldn't that just shake up the GOP field?
What are those two mischievous little rascals up to?
PS- For those that determined Trump was lying about some type of announcement after his Celebrity Apprentice finale because NBC execs said the shows were pre-taped and no announcement is in there, is this a hint of how Trump plans to announce his announcement date? With a video to be shown after his show.
[Update] Reports now say Trump had two responses prepared, one if Huckabee didn't run and one if Huckabee did.
The timing of Trump's short segment and lack of anyone else still leads me to believe that this was set up specifically so that it was Trump's face and words that were heard along with Huckabee's.
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