Mike Huckabee pushes back on ex-Chief of Staff John Kelly for implying his successor is a 'yes man'

Fox News contributor Mike Huckabee pushed back against former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly for implying that his successor, Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, is a “yes man.”

Huckabee told "Outnumbered Overtime" on Monday: “I don’t think Mick Mulvaney is a ‘yes man.’ I think he’s a pretty strong individual.”

The former governor of Arkansas made clear his respect for Kelly for his service to the country as a four-star Marine general.

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Kelly said Saturday that he warned President Trump about a possible impeachment were he to hire a "yes man," allegedly pointing fingers at  Mulvaney and other current advisers.

"I said, whatever you do -- and we were still in the process of trying to find someone to take my place -- I said whatever you do, don’t hire a ‘yes man,’ someone who won’t tell you the truth -- don’t do that," Kelly said at the Washington Examiner's Sea Island Summit political conference in Georgia. "Because if you do, I believe you will be impeached."

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President Trump announced last December that Kelly would leave his post at the end of 2018 following a 17-month tenure. Kelly previously served as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

The president is now under a House impeachment inquiry over interactions with Ukraine and alleged efforts to encourage foreign interference in the 2020 president election.

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“The most important thing is I don’t think this president has done anything that is impeachable and I think the real issue is whether or not, the Democrats are fishing in a dead sea and are going to come up dry,” Huckabee said.

Fox News’ Melissa Leon contributed to this report.