USS Iowa
Posted on 01/28/2016 10:58:41 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum will attend Donald Trump's pro-veterans event on Thursday at the same time as Fox News's prime-time presidential debate.
Spokesmen for both candidates confirmed to The Hill that the Republican presidential will still participate in Thursday's undercard GOP debate, but will head to the Trump event after.
The undercard debate begins at 7 p.m. Eastern, two hours before Trump's event is slated to start three miles away. That gives candidates who failed to reach the main stage the freedom to participate, while anyone slated for the main stage would have to skip the debate altogether to attend.
Huckabee said that he didn't speak with Trump directly about the plans, but that his staff had expressed interest in conversation with the Trump campaign. He added that he doesn't believe the decision to join Trump at the event sends a negative message to those candidates taking part in the main-stage debate.
"It's to honor the troops, it's not an endorsement of Donald Trump's candidacy. I'm still running for president, we've got the caucuses Monday night, but I'm delighted to join with Donald Trump in an effort to salute the veterans," Huckabee said Thursday on CNN's "Wolf."
"I'm not invited to the main stage, I would have loved to have been on that stage ... if they aren't sitting out in the audience watching me, I don't feel any compulsion that I have to be there for that debate.
Trump's campaign scheduled the event after he decided to pull out of Fox News's debate because the network issued a strongly worded statement in response to his calls to remove Megyn Kelly as a moderator.
His campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, has said the event will raise funds for veterans organizations, but the campaign has not elaborated which ones will benefit.
Trump tweeted
Thursday morning that two campaigns had reached out with interest in joining his event, but he did not identify the candidates.
His decision to skip the debate has prompted criticism from his GOP rivals.
Ted Cruz, his closest challenger in recent polls, challenged him to a one-on-one debate this Saturday, and two Cruz-aligned super-PACs promised to donate $1.5 million to veterans organizations if Trump agreed.
The decision by both candidates to stand by Trump despite criticism from other candidates could be seen by supporters as a signal to support Trump.
Both Huckabee, the 2008 Iowa caucus winner, and Santorum, the 2012 caucus winner, have long histories with the state's evangelical population.
But they have seen those voters flee him in droves, mostly to Trump and Cruz, and both lag behind the majority of the field in fundraising.
While other rivals framed Trump's decision as fear to defend his record, Huckabee lauded Trump for manipulating the media during an interview this week on Fox's "Hannity" and jokingly asked
to take his spot on the main debate stage.
During the CNN interview, Huckabee said Trump would be on his vice presidential shortlist.
Huckabee also didn't argue with the assertion that he'd be more comfortable with Trump as the nominee than Cruz, and took the opportunity to criticize Cruz for cozying up to hedge-fund billionaires and for moderating his stances depending on the audience.
I was hoping Trump would schedule his event at the same time as the debate, and make Fox’s ratings a disaster.
But I guess that would have been too rude.
2 past winners in Iowa now begging for crumbs.
2012 Santorum
2008 Huckabee
Santorum 0.8
Huckabee 1.8
USS Iowa
The establishment so-called “family values” lapdogs who are responsible for attacking genuine anti-establishment family values candidates will be there to assist Trump and get their faces on tv...big surprise!
Yes. They are. But what is your point, your reason for posting that?
I’m always open to new information - in what way is Cruz confusing you? Perhaps my mind will change, too.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/18/politics/donald-trump-veterans-group/
Sept 2015:
Los Angeles (CNN)The veterans group that hosted Donald Trump for a speech this week on board a decommissioned battleship had its tax-exempt status revoked by the IRS in August.
The group, Veterans for a Strong America, sounds like a charity, and in a press release touted having more than a half-million supporters across the U.S. In reality, it is a political action group whose tax-exempt status was revoked in August because it failed to file tax returns for the past three years. The group is appealing the decision. In addition, CNN has found scant evidence that Veterans for a Strong America has the supporters it says it does.
The Trump campaign said it did not know about the organization’s issues until after the event. People paid between $100 and $1,000 to attend the speech on the U.S.S. Iowa.
The founder and chairman of VSA is a former Army officer named Joel Arends, who served in Iraq in 2004. He’s an attorney and political consultant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where VSA is based. In its most recent filing this spring with the Federal Election Commission, the organization reported it had $30 in the bank and owed $318 to a Washington consulting firm.................
The problem with this whole “race” is that Trump is self-funding, so he doesn’t have to concern himself with legal expenditures, getting support or even having coherent positions to get support. People seem to like this Daddy Warbucks approach, though, so I guess in the future all presidential candidates must be self-funding billionaires. In other words, able to buy all the publicity, travel, etc. that they want as it takes their fancy - and buy the election.
I think we have a problem with the way we fund elections. Frankly, I don’t think candidates should be allowed to do it without getting money from outside sources, or we will have nothing but the mega-rich running in the future.
Ya never know. Fox may decide to toss Cruz softballs all night to try to make him look better than Trump.
Fux VP Sammon has his daughter working for Rubio, so that is why Rubio got softball questions last fux debate.
I think Cruz is unfortunately in the crosshairs at the debate.
Huckabee won in 2008, Santorum won in a squeaker v. Romney in 2012.
You can watch the Trump Wounded Warrior rally on C-SPAN, CNN, CBS news streaming and a few more networks tonight 9 PM ET. And don’t forget to donate to the Vets CW.
Wrong.
I have it on good authority that Huckster turned down an invitation to emcee the Grand Opening of a new Arby's in Hot Springs to attend. And Rick Santorum......
Well, yeah, Rick Santorum really didn't have anything lined up. Arby's wasn't really interested.
Hank
He may very well shine and do so brilliantly, but if no one watches what good will it do? And please don’t take this wrong. I really like Cruz even though Trump is my guy. It would be fantastic to see these two team up after the primaries with Cruz as Trump’s vp.
Then if I could have two guys tacit endorsements prior to the Iowa vote it would be these two.
Never happen they NEED Cruz out of the way so their boy Rubio moves up!!!
I see it the same way. This is a windfall for Cruz. I plan to watch the debate, rather than follow the herd. Trump's presentation tonight is laudable too, support the veterans, but his presentation is not going to have any surprises, seeing as how he controls it!
Thanks for the “concern.”
But if you watched his rally in Des Moines yesterday with Steve King, Rick Perry and Tony Perkins among others, you’d have no reason for concern.
Hank
Yes! CNN has confirmed it will televise the Trump charity for the veterans.
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