Huckabee continues to make paid speeches, his campaign confirms.
DES MOINES, Iowa (CNN) – Even as he runs for president, Mike Huckabee is still getting paid on the speaking circuit, a campaign spokeswoman confirmed Wednesday.
The former Arkansas governor gave two or three speeches in November and plans to give several more in February and March, according to Huckabee spokeswoman Kirsten Fedewa.
Fedewa says Huckabee has not given up his speaking jobs because, unlike other sitting senators or governors or otherwise wealthy candidates, he needs the cash.
“This is how he earns his living, through paid speeches, and being on the speaking circuit is a tried and true tradition among former officials.” Fedewa told CNN.
She did not immediately know what groups he was addressing or who was paying for the speeches.
Huckabee’s decision, to accept paid speeches when he can, first reported by The Politico, does not appear to pose any legal dilemmas for the presidential candidate. It is, however, highly unusual for a White House hopeful to accept money to speak. His fee, according to Fedewa, is up to $25,000 per speech.
She says his practice is not to accept money to speak at churches.
The Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas did give the former preacher $10,000 for delivering a sermon there this past Sunday, but Fedewa says Huckabee donated the money to a church in Little Rock, Arkansas.
–CNN's Dana Bash
From CNN Politics
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Just how many of you hate Mike compare to millions of people who silently supported his cause.Just because his on top of the survey ,people then started pulling him down.
GO MIKE! Let them eat your dust!!
I don't know. How much does Bill Clinton get for all the speeches he gives. Well more than 25K. Then throw in his and his wife's books. In comparison to Huckabee, he has been milking the ex President thing for how many years now?
Get a life people! Every last one of you wish you could make 25k speaking. Let the man earn a living for pete's sake. If someone wants to pay him 25k to speak, is that his fault? If you'll stop hating for a minute and go read a little bit, you'll see that he's surging in the polls. He's climbed further than any other candidate. Somebody must like him... ya think? He was voted one of the top governors in the country! Yes, he increased taxes in Arkansas, but over 60% of the voters in Arkansas approved those tax increases. Now you want to blame him? And please drop the dog killing thing, OK? I'm sure if Mike had been around when it happened, his son would have gotten a good old fashioned country butt whippin'. My son has done things that I'm not proud of, but does that make me a bad person? My son made mistakes, but he learned from them, so let it go. It's called life, folks! You make mistakes and you learn from them! As far as ethics violations, come on people, what candidate doesn't have someone watching his every move? He faced those charges and they were found to be without merit. Drop the name calling and mud slinging. Vote for your candidate and see who comes out as the Commander-in-chief at the end. I support the Fair Tax and I support Mike Huckabee!
Really, it is astonishing that Huckabee's kleptocratic ways when he was an official in Arkansas haven't been bandied about just a little bit more.. I mean, really, the speech thing is just an extension of his accepting of gifts to the governors mansion, and then taking them for himself personally.
I can't believe that our genial Huckabee isn't just earning a living here – pretty darn convenient way to contravene donations. Heck Judge, it ain't a donation, it's a fee for listening to me deliver a political speech...totally different items. Well...different in his world, the world where donations of expensive furniture and such by heavy campaign contributors become Huckabee's personal property upon leaving office.
Loose morals like these, assuming Huckabee has any at all, ought to be a distinctive negative for everyone. Not just 'liberals' would would prefer to have someone honest in office, but conservatives who ought to have learned their lesson. If you want to elect a crook, choose Reagan, the grand lie and all the indicted and convicted (and pardoned) cabinet. Not the second rate bigots and criminals. If you are going to screw the nation, make it last as Reagan did with the tax codes and regulation.
But, here we are. The GOP has sent up:
Giuliani – who hired Kerik and insists that billing security for his extramarital affairs being billed to a series of non-realted city agencies was "normal." Note to everyone, Rudy's personal proclivities are a minor point, he engaged in the same accounting and personal manipulation of the office in much more major ways.
Huckabee – a second rate southern politician with ambitions who couldn't keep his hands out of the cookie jar when a sofa set was presented to him. Hey, I appreciate the klepto tendencies, but steal something worthwhile – elect him and you'll get the chance.
McCain. The Straight Talk express features all kinds of....crooked talk. McCain talks a brave talk, but is just a rehash of the usual anticommunist, anti-terrorism talk that actually contributes to terrorism and, if not positive hatred, the genuine distrust of the US motives. .The more we foist our fatally flawed policies and politicians on countries, the more they...well....die . And the more our theoretical policies fail. McCain is a genuine war hero, but his is a formula for hatred here and abroad.
Fred – HAHAHAHAHA
The democrats are not much better.
Considering all the choices so far on a scale of 1-10 I don't even see a 5 on either side of the fence. Actually on the democratic side I don't even see any 3's. Mike at least seems to have some common sense, maybe, just maybe we need a president with some, god knows we have not had any in the last 4 we've elected.
it's time to get these religious, lying, theives out of the temple. Stop Religion NOW!!!!!
I still find it amazing that this man is doing so well in the polls. Do we really need a President who graduated from a Bible college? He has made it very clear that he is biased against any religion different than his own. While we have millions of Baptists registered to vote in this country, we also have six million Mormons registered to vote, and many millions of Catholics. It seems that he is forgetting this fact.
Whats funny is how Huck set up the HUNTING trip to get PUBLIC ATTENTION: Little does he know that most of us WHOM HUNT, know that he was taken to a place where its called CONTROLLED HUNTING! Where they take FARM RAISED pheasant and release them about 10 minutes before HUCK comes along and shoots the Dog, oops I mean pheasant!
WHAT A HUNTER! lmao, Lets see him do it the way we hunters do it, walking MILES upon MILES to get our limit of BIRDS! Wished we had the money to pay for a CONTROLLED HUNT, but wouldnt that be like FISHING IN A BARRELL OF HUNGRY FISH?
SHEESH HUCK, I was hoping for better!
I don't hate Huckabee because unlike him I am a true Crristian and don't go around hating other people or practicing religious bigotry. I just feel he is ethically bankrupt and his supporters don't even know or seem to care about his positions. His so called Fair tax is a joke. It is basically a 23 percent sales tax. It would eliminate the home interest deduction and is so regressive it is not funny. When asked couldn't you avoid the tax by buying things on the black market he seems puzzled. It would also slow an already slowing economy by forcing people to put off buying cars and other expensive items that they don't want to pay 23 percent more for. His explanation for his misstatement about martial law in Pakistan was worse than the original mistake. I am no liberal I am a conservative but if he is the Republican nominee than I hope Bloomberg runs.
What a great example of a "good ole boy". Wake up America!!!!!!!!!!
I'm a republican (pro Romney) and if Huckabee becomes the front runner against Hilary, I'll vote for her. Ouch, that hurts!
No to Huckabee...
If Jesus got $25.000 for one speech, he would splurge on a $400 hair cut.