'It makes me sick you could've been POTUS': Mike Huckabee lashes out his 2008 GOP rival Mitt Romney after he 'begged Trump for Secretary of State' but said he was 'sickened by White House's dishonesty' in Mueller probe
- The former Arkansas governor said it makes him sick that Mitt Romney got the GOP nomination in 2012 and could have been the president
- The tirade came after Romney said he was 'sickened by the dishonesty' in the investigation into possible collusion with the Russians during the 2016 election
- Huckabee tweeted Friday that Romney took Trump's money but still trashed him
- He claimed Romney loved Trump when he 'begged to be Secretary of State'
- Huckabee said 'some Republicans (like Mitt)' don't understand the report
- Romney and Huckabee competed for GOP nomination in 2008 but McCain won
- Huckabee denied his reaction came from bad feeling over 2008, noting he supported Romney in 2012 when he lost to Barack Obama
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee lashed out at Mitt Romney on Friday after the Utah Senator blasted President Donald Trump for his 'appalling' conduct outlined in the Mueller report.
Huckabee retweeted a post in which Romney said he was 'sickened by the dishonesty' in reference to the probe into possible collusion with the Russians during the 2016 election, adding that he felt similarly about Romney's running for president in 2012.
'Know what makes me sick, Mitt? Not how disingenuous you were to take @realDonaldTrump $ and then 4 yrs later jealously trash him & then love him again when you begged to be Sec of State, but makes me sick that you got GOP nomination and could have been @POTUS,' Huckabee posted to his 1.27 million Twitter followers.
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee admitted it makes him sick that Mitt Romney got GOP nomination in 2016 and could have been US President
Huckabee tweeted Friday that Romney took Donald Trump's money but still trashed him later
Huckabee continued his Twitter tirade, sharing an article claiming Trump's reactions to the probe were 'nothing but a president frustrated at being wrong accused and wrongly investigated over a very effective hoax.'
The former former Fox News host added: 'There were some Republicans (like Mitt) who really didn't understand what the Mueller report revealed.'
Huckabee was a candidate in the Republican presidential primaries in 2016, Trump's election year, and 2008 when Romney also ran. Throughout the primaries, Huckabee and John McCain accused Romney of flip-flopping on policy. McCain ultimately succeeded and became the GOP presidential nominee. McCain had Romney on a shortlist for Vice President but ultimately went with Sarah Palin, losing to Barack Obama that November.
But Huckabee denied that he and Romney were 'bitter rivals.'
'More context-rivals in 08 for sure but in 2012 I campaigned across USA for him, spoke for him at RNC,' Huckabee tweeted Saturday. 'He doesn't have to like @realDonaldTrump as a lot of elitists don't. But we need flip-flops on the beach, not in the Senate.'
Huckabee claimed Romney 'begged to be Secretary of State' after Trump won 2016 election. Romney is pictured with President-elect Trump (right) at Trump International Golf Club, November 19, 2016 in New Jersey
While most Republicans declined to comment on the explosive Special Counsel report, Romney on Friday chastised the GOP president and senior White House officials
Huckabee said 'some Republicans (like Mitt)' don't understand Robert Mueller's report
While most Republicans declined to comment on the explosive special counsel report, Romney on Friday chastised the president and senior White House officials for misleading the public.
'I am sickened at the extent and pervasiveness of dishonesty and misdirection by individuals in the highest office of the land, including the president,' Romney said in a Twitter statement.
'I am also appalled that, among other things, fellow citizens working in a campaign for president welcomed help from Russia -- including information that had been illegally obtained, that none of them acted to inform American law enforcement and that the campaign chairman was actively promoting Russian interests in Ukraine.'
Romney, who in 2016 vied with Trump for the Republican presidential nomination, was alone among Republicans in criticizing the White House for its behavior.
Huckabee at the Pizza Ranch restaurant in Pella, Iowa in December 2007. He competed with Romney as a 2008 Republican presidential candidate
Romney and Huckabee competed for GOP candidate in 2008 but John McCain won
Released on Thursday after a nearly two-year investigation, Mueller's report detailed a huge amount of cooperative but not criminal contacts between Trump's 2016 election campaign and Russia that assisted the Republican against his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.
The report also detailed numerous acts by the president that supported allegations of obstruction of justice, though Mueller, constrained by Justice Department rules, could not himself recommend charges against Trump.
Trump declared victory and exoneration after the report, and later labeled Mueller's work 'total bulls**t.'
'Reading the report is a sobering revelation of how far we have strayed from the aspirations and principles of the founders' of the United States, Romney said.
He seemed to be referring to glaring errors that Sarah Sanders, the White House press secretary, made among others. She admitted to the Mueller that she was wrong to say that 'countless' FBI agents told her they wanted James Comey fired.
Huckabee denied his reaction came from being 'bitter rivals' as he supported Romney in 2012
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