Without directly declaring his support for Donald Trump, former White House hopeful Mike Huckabee said the Republican presidential front-runner is actually leading the American people in a "revolution" against the "ruling class" in Washington.
Speaking on Newsmax TV over the weekend, Huckabee said Trump's impressive run in the GOP primaries and caucuses shows "nothing less" than the people's desire for a "peaceful overthrow" of the current government.
The former Arkansas governor said Trump has repeatedly proved that his message more than those of other candidates resonates best with American voters.
"Here is a guy who has said some very inflammatory, very intemperate things and rather than it hurt him, it has actually propelled him because that's how people feel," Huckabee said.
"People are angry. I think we're seeing nothing less than the overthrow of our government... It's a peaceful overthrow so far. We're going to do it by ballots, not bullets, thank God, but this is a revolution. The people are that upset with the ruling class and frankly, they ought to be."
Huckabee said personally he felt "nothing would be better for this country than to have an utter disruption of the ruling class in Washington."
Trump's bold, hard-hitting and unapologetic stances have earned him the voters' admiration, he added.
Huckabee even likened Trump to Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States from 1901 to 1909 and one of the greatest whose face was carved into Mount Rushmore alongside those of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln.
"He has been the Teddy Roosevelt who's charging up San Juan Hill and there is no retreat," Huckabee said, referring to the decisive battle in Cuba won by the Americans during the Spanish-American war in July 1898.
Huckabee said Trump should never apologise for the cancellation of his rally in Chicago on Friday due to the presence of rowdy protesters who vowed to disrupt his campaign.
"If you don't like Donald Trump, don't vote for him," he said. "If you don't like Donald Trump don't go hear him in his speech, but don't keep other people from hearing because what they did last night, those protesters, they shut down his speech but they gave him the entire weekend news platform. I will assure you that this helps, not hurts, Donald Trump."
