Huckabee says Trump should not announce anything before midterms
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee on President Trump's 2024 chances.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said on Monday that former President Trump should "absolutely" not announce his 2024 presidential bid until after the midterms.
"I think it would be a huge disaster and mistake if he were to announce this before the midterms. Because right now the focus needs to be solely and completely on getting Democrats out of control of the House and Senate and setting up for a much better situation going into 2024," Huckabee told "The Brian Kilmeade Show."
Former President Trump watches his shot during the pro-am before the LIV Golf Invitational at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster on July 28, 2022, in New Jersey. (Charles Laberge/LIV Golf via Getty Images)
Top-level members of the Republican Party have encouraged Trump to delay announcing his candidacy until after the midterms. Many read that as Republicans fearing that a Trump announcement would upset the status quo of voters focused on inflation, gas prices and President Joe Biden's low approval rating.
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"My point to him has always been, 'Let's go win '22,'" House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said Tuesday of his conversations with Trump, adding that he encouraged Trump to hold off on an announcement.
Trump stated earlier this month that he has already made up his mind on whether to run, and that the main decision was whether he will announce before or after the midterms.
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Huckabee said he believes Trump will run for another term in the White House
"To distract the American public from those elections in November, I think would be a huge mistake that could have disastrous consequences," Huckabee said.
He said he would give the same advice to any candidate, not just Trump.
"It's like, you don't take a date to your wife's funeral. Make sure you let the whole thing play out and you do things in the proper order. It's out of sequence to be planning the 2024 election before you have the 2022 election," he concluded.
Fox News' Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.
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