Jon Huntsman: McCain Endorsement of Romney Was A “Petty Betrayal”

In 2008 when John McCain was running for President, the governor of Utah took a huge risk by endorsing the Arizona Senator over fellow Mormon and Salt Lake City Olympic Chairman Mitt Romney. This year when Huntsman staked his whole campaign on New Hampshire, McCain endorsed Romney two days before the primary.

Huntsman called McCain’s endorsement a “Petty Betrayal”.

In the new e-book “Inside The Circus,” released Tuesday, Huntsman and his wife talked about how disappointed they were with McCain and Huntsman even took the Senator to task for it.

Huntsman said,

“I wrote John a note [by email] after that and I said, ‘You know, for a guy who paid a huge price in my state to support you, the least you could have done-I don’t care if you support Romney, that’s great-but just to have given me the dignity of waiting until after the New Hampshire primary,'”

McCain’s response, was really long and in depth, he only said,

“I didn’t mean to offend. I hope your family is well.”

Despite declaring that his New Hampshire showing was a “ticket to ride,” Huntsman left the race only days after a distant third-place finish in the state. The exit capped a difficult campaign for Huntsman, and the book shows that he was never comfortable with the demands of consultants he described as “the demise of good politics.”

Jon Huntsman left a post as President Obama’s Ambassador to China to run for the Republican nomination. His campaign was widely hailed by pundits but largely ignored by the general population.