Jon Huntsman Says He'd Be Open To Running With Michele Bachmann

WASHINGTON -- Republican presidential hopeful Jon Huntsman says he'd be open to running as vice president if rival and tea party favorite Michele Bachmann wins the nomination.

The former ambassador to China and ex-Utah governor says that every time he's been asked to serve his country he's answered "yes." Huntsman tells CNN interviewer Piers Morgan that if asked by the Minnesota congresswoman to run as her vice president he'd "be the first person to sign up, absolutely."

Huntsman tried quickly to backtrack, saying the answer was based on a hypothetical question and that he has no doubt he'll win the GOP nomination. The interview was aired Monday night.

On Sunday, Huntsman ridiculed Bachmann for claiming she could bring gasoline prices below $2 if elected president.

WATCH (via CNN):

Comments

[talkstocoyotes]

06:31 AM on 08/28/2011

Running with Michele Bachmann isn't the only thing Mr. Huntsman is "open" to. According to an interview with PBS he gave last week, he's also "open" to "broadening" the income tax base. Interviewer Jeffrey Brown asked him if that included raising taxes on the poorest citizens and he answered that it did, adding that they would "then become taxpayers". Isn't that cute?

Mr. Brown also asked him about taxes on the highest earners and he answered (with a chuckle, according to the transcript) that "there are contributions that they can make too", But it was evident that the poor and what's left of the middle class would make most of the contributions; Medicare and Social Security would be "done a little differently." Very populist of him, though, to include the rich "too" in all this sacrificing.

This guy is no better than anyone else in the GOP clown car. If the PBS transcript is any indication he chuckles a lot, for what that's worth.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/politics/july-dec11/huntsman_08-25.html

[Jenni Gahr Schmidt]

01:52 PM on 08/25/2011

John Huntsman is trying to appear as the sane and intelligent candidate, who can't win because he's being honest... and then he says he will run with Michele Bachmann and any belief in his sanity is washed away.

[Neopolitan]

11:58 AM on 08/29/2011

Nothing new under the sun - one cannot look at gaffe-a-minute Joe Biden without envisioning an aluminum foil three-cornered-hat on his head. Huntsman was likely saying he would keep his options open by running along side Bachmann - probably because he doesn't want to completely alienate himself from the Party before the debates begin in earnest. It's really moot because Bachmann will never get the Republican nomination. Huntsmann was a diplomat and it may have been the diplomatic thing to say at the time, but he has already criticized some of Bachmann's wacky ideas and eventually he will be seen as the antithesis of the carnival atmosphere surrounding her misguided candidacy.(I hope)

[apersonanongrata]

10:37 PM on 08/24/2011

A Mormon playing second to a woman.....??? I don't think so.

[apersonanongrata]

10:36 PM on 08/24/2011

Ok, then he is open to being the new version of Sarah Palin????

[madrediterra]

03:57 PM on 08/24/2011

And he was the one I was concerned about.

[rjciraulo]

12:19 PM on 08/24/2011

Wow. Is this what "selling your soul to the devil" means?

[kjg25171]

12:54 PM on 08/24/2011

Yes.

[Pavan Krishnamurthy]

10:10 AM on 08/24/2011

why would you even answer such a hypothetical when you railed against the very candidate a week ago??

but he is still the most rationale republican candidate in the field.

[blarneydude]

08:57 AM on 08/24/2011

This guy just disqualified himself from serious consideration for anything. Some people will sleep with anybody to advance their careers.

[Spike5]

08:33 AM on 08/24/2011

So Huntsman would be perfectly happy to run as VP under a Presidential candidate he's dismissed as a fool. And exactly what does that make him other than a power-hungry hypocrite with no principles or integrity?

[blarneydude]

09:12 AM on 08/24/2011

Um...a...power...hungry....hypo...right got it i'm repeating you, sorry...But we might add stupid. Does he have any idea what message "second fiddle to Bachmann" sends?

[Spike5]

11:10 AM on 08/24/2011

If he reads the posts here, he may get a hint.

[dmsdzinr]

07:55 AM on 08/24/2011

Huntsman just lost ALL credibility, as far as I am concerned. Just a few days after he said she was too fringe to go anywhere. Typical HYPOCRITE! OH, and he is already learning the CON Flip-Flop.

[drpmindmender]

03:32 AM on 08/24/2011

It's time for me to eat my words. Forty-eight hours ago, I emphasised in several posts that if the GOP was really serious about wanting to win the WH in 2012, they would need to nominate someone sensible like Jon Huntsman. With his willingness to play second banana to Bachmann, the GOP doesn't have a chance with this group of candidates.

[wayneworlds]

02:50 AM on 08/24/2011

i say we just out source the rep party after all that there job growth plan for us

[wordsalad12]

01:23 AM on 08/24/2011

my respect for this candidate lasted an entire day. Hmmm. So much for hope. He got done blasting Perry and Bachmann for being fringe candidates out of touch with reality. The next day, he is willing to consider being VP to one of them??? And in the same interview he laughed at the prospect of considering being VP to the far-less-fringy Mitt Doorknob Romney. Really?? not to mention the fact that he is so uncomfortable on camera. A winner all around.

[Frank-ly Speaking]

01:01 AM on 08/24/2011

Is it just me or does Michele Bachmann look just like the Phillips' Colon Health Lady?

[gted1954]

01:37 AM on 08/24/2011

She kind of does. And after 4 years of a Bachmann administration, it's doubtful our colon's will be healthy.

[Frank-ly Speaking]

01:46 AM on 08/24/2011

LOL!

[Lucky S7even]

12:56 AM on 08/24/2011

$2 gas? so, her running mate is criss angel?