Watch CBS News

Huckabee Defends Joke About Fred

(CBS)
From CBS News' Joy Lin:

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – Asked about Fred Thompson's "hatchet" attack against him at Thursday's Republican debate, Mike Huckabee joked to Joe Scarborough that he thought "Fred needs some Metamucil. I think it would help a lot if he gets some. You know, he was in a bad mood last night."

On the bus with reporters on Route 96 in Michigan from Lansing to Grand Rapids, Huckabee explained his Metamucil comment saying, "You have to understand the context of the show….It's not quite as irreverent as Imus…not quite Stephen Colbert but it's serious topics with an edge."

"I really do believe if people can't have some sense of humor as they approach this stuff, then it causes everybody to be so locked down and consultant driven that their campaigns become so boring because all they're going to do is give this robotic answer to everything that's very carefully scripted. I promise you, you won't have moments like this," Huckabee said, gesturing to the handful of reporters that had gathered around him for an on-the-record conversation that would last about 40 minutes.

"Does Romney do these?" Huckabee asked the reporters. No, replied one. Neither does Thompson, said another.

"If I thought I couldn't be a human being. That I gotta wait till six handlers tell me what I can and can't say and I have to read it, you know, it's not worth it."

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.