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Huckabee encouraged members of the party to “unite in defeating Hillary and abandoning and repudiating the hapless ‘Never Trump‘ nonsense.” | AP Photo Huckabee: Everyone was wrong about Trump

Donald Trump might not be everything he wanted in a candidate, but the presumptive Republican nominee is good enough for Mike Huckabee.

Writing on his website, the former Arkansas governor and presidential candidate praised Trump in his triumph, promoting the Manhattan mogul as the pragmatic conservative who can help his party to victory in November.

“Is Donald Trump as pro-life as me? No. Is he as solid on the marriage issue as me? No. Does his position on Israel come from a deep conviction both politically and Biblically? No,” Huckabee conceded. “But neither did Ted Cruz’s. And much to my chagrin, the voters didn’t accept my message, but his. I withheld an endorsement during the heat of the primary because it was the job of the voters to select the person they wanted more than me.”

Huckabee encouraged members of the party to “unite in defeating Hillary and abandoning and repudiating the hapless ‘Never Trump‘ nonsense. The dirty little secret is that the Never Trump movement was more about providing high dollar work for the political consultants than stopping the disaster of an Obama third term which is the result of electing Hillary Clinton," he wrote.

“Every prediction about this year’s race was wrong. Those of us who brought years of experience and effective governing to the race found that voters were not interested,” he wrote. “They blamed everyone from Washington for the mess and even blamed those of us who had never worked in DC.”

Ted Cruz’s departure from the campaign should signal a moment of unity for the party, he suggested.

“I went into the race knowing Hillary better than the other 16 candidates. I left still knowing her better, but also knowing the other GOP candidates. I’m convinced that Donald Trump is our best hope of turning the tide of the insider political nonsense that has left people seething and being able to defeat Hillary,” he concluded, adding, “Ted Cruz was half right in his campaign speeches when he said that ‘conservatives are coalescing.’ In the end, they coalesced, all right, but around Donald Trump.”