Upcoming Trump Arkansas Campaign Stop Fuels Speculation of Huckabee Endorsement
According to multiple reports this week, Donald Trump will be holding a campaign rally in Arkansas next week, between the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary. Now, normally, an event like this would be fairly standard, but it’s actually fueling speculation of a surprise endorsement.
Who? Well…
Newsroom just learned Trump is coming to Arkansas Feb 3rd. Former Governor Huckabee at his event tonight. Hmmmm
— Garrett Lewis (@5NEWSGarrett) January 29, 2016
Donald Trump is holding an event in Arkansas just two days after the IA caucuses. Mike Huckabee is from Arkansas. https://t.co/ULa4XMdDE9
— Ben Gittleson (@bgittleson) January 29, 2016
Trump holding event in Little Rock, Arkansas on Feb. 3. Will @GovMikeHuckabee be there? https://t.co/0LbxI84scA
— Alan Rappeport (@arappeport) January 29, 2016
That’s right, Mike Huckabee.
Allahpundit over at HotAir laid out a pretty compelling theory yesterday:
[W]hat if Huckabee made an agreement with Trump recently to support him after Iowa if his own campaign ends up never taking off? We’ve all been interpreting Huck’s endless shots at Cruz as a product of bitterness, but maybe they’re more strategic than that. Until recently I assumed that Huckabee would endorse Rubio once he dropped out, partly as thanks for Rubio endorsing Huckabee in 2008 and partly because Rubio has traditionally been seen as the biggest threat to Cruz. Lately, though, respect for Trump’s chances at winning the nomination has risen; he leads Rubio in prediction markets, meaning that if you were all about stopping Cruz, Trump’s arguably your best bet at this point.
Huckabee has been taking plenty of shots at Cruz over his faith, and while he has occasionally criticized Trump here and there, he’s mostly defended Trump and even (surprisingly, considering his own record of social conservatism) took Trump’s side in his fight with Cruz over New York values.
[image via screengrab]
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