While US GOP presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee sat at the MLK ceremony that almost lasted four hours, he was overshadowed by the attendance of former US President Bill Clinton.
Clinton had acknowledged Huckabee at the ceremony. “We don’t agree on much, but he is a very good man,” Clinton had said to the audience.
Huckabee came in second in the South Carolina GOP primary over the weekend after campaigning. He said that the federal government should stay out of disputes over the Confederate battle flag being displayed over South Carolina.
In the previous week, Huckabee said: “If somebody came to Arkansas and told us what to do with our flag, we’d tell ‘em what to do with the pole, that’s what we’d do.”
After losing in South Carolina, Huckabee will need to have strong showings in Florida, George, and Alabama to keep his campaign stay afloat.
When leaving the MLK ceremony, Huckabee was endorsed by at least several dozen African-Americans. Most of them have ties with conservative religious organizations.
According to William Owens, founder of the Coalition of African American Pastors, Huckabee’s opposition to abortion and gay marriage goes along with the “high moral values” of many black Americans.