Iowa Kingmaker Ditches Huckabee: He Sounds Like Hillary; I’m Going with Cruz

Despite his socially-conservative bona fides, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has officially lost the support of Iowa’s influential talk radio host Steve Deace — a dramatic shift from their supportive relationship in the 2008 Republican Party primaries.

Deace has been described as a “hitmaker” and “one of the most powerful Republicans you’ve never heard of” because his stumping for Huckabee was seen as a substantial contributor to the former governor’s 2008 Iowa caucus victory.

But, in 2016, Deace is not thrilled with Huckabee’s support for entitlement programs. As MMfA first reported, during the May 6 edition of the Steve Deace Show, the radio host tore into the former Fox News host’s pro-entitlement views, calling it “the basis for a permanent welfare state.”

The bigger blow came when Deace compared Huckabee’s announcement speech — rife with references to social safety nets — to Hillary Clinton, saying the two political opposites now seem interchangeable. If Clinton delivered the speech, Deace said, it would have “gotten the same amount of applause.”

He also said the Huckabee speech sounded a lot like “the last man who ran for president from Hope, Arkansas,” i.e., Bill Clinton.

And so Deace’s candidate of choice for 2016? Ted Cruz.

Click below to listen to the audio, as clipped by MMfA:

[Image via Fox News/screengrab]
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