Mike Huckabee hit back at Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) for denying they worked together during the 2008 South Carolina Republican primary.
During a Thursday appearance on Fox News Network's "America Live," McCain slammed Huckabee for saying McCain and Thompson teamed up in order to split the South Carolina vote and turn the election in McCain's favor.
McCain called the accusation "totally patently false," and Thompson said "there's not one shred of truth" to the claim. Huckabee addressed their denials and "being called a liar" Friday on Fox News.
"Being called a liar by both John McCain and Fred Thompson, it's not good, but heck, I've been called worse by a lot of people, so I'll certainly get over that," Huckabee said.
Huckabee even claimed he was complimenting McCain and Thompson when he alleged they teamed up.
"I thought it was brilliant strategy," Huckabee said. "I though it was a compliment in that it was a brilliant political move if they did it. If they weren't smart enough to do it, then I apologize for giving them the benefit of being that smart, because I thought it would've been a great move, and I certainly wasn't bitter about it, because it was not illegal or unethical, it was just good political strategy."
Huckabee claimed that if the accusation wasn't true, McCain was "doggone lucky" to have won the 2008 South Carolina primary.