Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee on Sunday defended an ad critical of 2016 rival Ted Cruz for comments he made on same-sex marriage in a closed-door meeting before big dollar donors that some have deemed hypocritical from Cruz's previous positions on the matter.
Appearing on Fox News Sunday, the former Arkansas governor was asked whether the ad, produced by a super PAC that supports Huckabee, is a case of "selective editing."
“No, not at all,” Huckabee replied, The Washington Examiner reported. "The point is that in Iowa he’s made a major point, and he’s pitched to evangelicals as a person who is utterly authentic. He’s going to fight for religious liberty. He’s going to protect the right of people to disagree with decisions on same-sex marriage. But that’s not what you heard in that Manhattan fundraiser and that's the only thing that I have pointed out."
Huckabee was quick to mention that his campaign had no direct involvement in producing the ad, since it is illegal for campaigns and super PACs to coordinate.
“Obviously, I had nothing to do with the ad,” Huckabee said, according to The Hill, adding, “So there is no coordination or communication there. But it’s just a matter of listening to the transcript and recognizing that it’s not a big issue when he’s in Manhattan, but it is a much bigger issue in Iowa.”
That super PAC, Pursuing America's Greatness, recently produced the ad to play in Iowa. It includes audio of an exchange between Cruz and a potential donor at a New York fundraiser that was obtained and reported by Politico this week. The man asks Cruz whether he views his opposition to marriage equality as a "top-three priority," to which Cruz is heard replying, “no.”
The Cruz camp has complained that the audio is edited and taken out of context in the ad, while others argue that the truncated audio does not change the meaning.
"No, I would say defending the Constitution is a top priority," Cruz said in the full audio. "And that cuts across the whole spectrum -- whether it's defending the First Amendment, defending religious liberty, stopping courts from making public policy issues that are left to the people. And I also think the 10th Amendment to the Constitution cuts across a lot of issues."
Huckabee is looking to improve his poor polling by hitting Cruz in a state where he won the caucus in his 2008 bid for the White House.
