Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) on Wednesday conceded his financial situation will play a role when he decides whether or not to run for president.
Huckabee said he is concerned about being “completely destitute” if he runs and doesn’t win, saying he fears what would happen if he becomes sick or when he retires.
“Those are things I have to think about because I’m self-employed and don’t have a safety net to fall back on,” said Huckabee at a Christian Science Monitor forum Wednesday afternoon in Washington.
Huckabee trumpets the fact that he comes from a humble background, but said he has made significant money for the first time in his life through hosting his own Fox News show and through speaking engagements. (He recently bought an expensive home in Florida.) If he ran for president, he would have to give up both those lucrative gigs.
Huckabee also weighed in on some other issues, including the ongoing dispute over unions in Wisconsin. Huckabee described the relationship between public sector unions and government as an “unholy alliance,” and urged Gov. Scott Walker (R) to stand strong.
Although he said bargaining rights for public sector unions should be curtailed, he stopped short of saying they should be eliminated entirely.
Responding to the decision by Pres. Obama on Wednesday to order the Justice Department to stop defending the Defense of Marriage Act, Huckabee criticized Obama for supporting gay marriage when voters in 33 states have voted in favor of preserving marriage between a man and a woman.
“What does the president believe he knows that citizens in other states don’t?” asked Huckabee, saying he was “disappointed” in the decision.
Follow Alex Roarty on Twitter at Roarty_NJ.
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