“If issues like marriage and the sanctity of life are truly issues of principle and not just politics, then there should not be geographical boundaries to what is right and wrong," said former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. | Getty Huckabee slams Cruz for telling donor fighting gay marriage isn't 'top-three priority'

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee on Wednesday blasted Ted Cruz after a POLITICO report quoted the Texas senator telling a donor that fighting gay marriage wouldn’t be a “top-three priority” for his administration.

“Conservatives are being asked to ‘coalesce’ around yet another corporately-funded candidate that says something very different at a big donor fundraiser in Manhattan than at a church in Marshalltown,” Huckabee said in a statement released by his campaign Wednesday afternoon. “Shouldn’t a candidate be expected to have authenticity and consistency, instead of having to look at a map to decide what to believe and what to say?”


Cruz’s stance, expressed privately to a group of moderate Republican donors in New York earlier this month, seems to contradict his public statements. In June, for example, he told NPR that gay marriage opposition would be “front and center” in his campaign. But in July, he rejected a Supreme Court ruling on marriage equality, insisting marriage is a state issue.

“One reason I do respect [Donald] Trump is that whether you agree with him or not, he doesn’t pretend with his principles or change his message depending on his location or audience,” Huckabee added. “If issues like marriage and the sanctity of life are truly issues of principle and not just politics, then there should not be geographical boundaries to what is right and wrong.”

Cruz told a group of reporters Wednesday morning that what he said in private was “almost word for word what I said on Jay Leno. It’s almost word for word what I said on Stephen Colbert.” In his appearances with Leno and Colbert, in 2013 and earlier this year, respectively, Cruz suggested marriage rights should be left to the states.

“I know Colbert may not have a ton of viewers, but saying it on national TV is not a great plan for keeping something secret,” Cruz said.

