.@GovMikeHuckabee: Establishment Republicans are all bed-wetting themselves over surging Trump supporthttps://t.co/gFQcnKvFCi
— FOX & Friends (@foxandfriends) March 2, 2016
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) pushed back against the GOP establishment Wednesday after Donald Trump picked up a series of wins in his quest for the Republican presidential nomination.
“The establishment Republicans are all, you know, bed-wetting over this,” Huckabee said on “Fox and Friends,” adding, “They don’t seem to understand that we have an election.”
{mosads}”If you want to oppose Donald Trump, do it. But don’t pretend somehow that all these voters who have gone out and voted for him are stupid,” Huckabee said. “They’re not stupid … they’re angry.”
“Paul Ryan and other people in Washington need to recognize the reason Trump is winning is because they feel like people in Washington have helped them lose, and they’re sick of it,” Huckabee said.
Some Republicans are holding out hope for an alternative to Trump should he continue picking up delegates over his main rivals, Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).
But after winning seven states on Super Tuesday, Trump’s grip on the nomination is tightening. Should he triumph in the winner-take-all primaries of Ohio and Florida on March 15, it may be too late for any other Republican to overtake him.
Huckabee, who ended his own presidential bid in early February, has yet to endorse Trump despite repeatedly defending him in recent days. Trump has hired Huckabee’s daughter as a senior adviser to his campaign.
On Wednesday, Huckabee said Republicans should get behind their nominee no matter who it is.
He pushed back on the possibility of a contested convention in July if Trump cannot lock up enough delegates for the nomination, calling it a “ridiculous” idea that would make the campaign a waste of money.