Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar of the hit TLC show "19 Kids and Counting," have endorsed former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee president, hailing him as a "man of faith" who will "help get our nation back on track."
On Tuesday, Huckabee, who is also a former Southern Baptist minister, announced his candidacy for the 2016 presidential election in a speech given at the University of Arkansas Community College campus in Hope, Arkansas. Flanked by his wife, Janet, Huckabee promised to lead the United States "to higher ground" as the country has "lost its way, morally."
"I'm running for president because I know there is a difference between making a speech and making government accountable to the people who have to pay for it," he said.
Shortly after Huckabee's speech, which was attended by Jim Bob, Michelle, and 5 year-old Josie, the Duggar patriarch took to social media to voice his family's support for their "good friend."
"America needs Governor Huckabee for president!" he wrote on the Duggar family official Facebook page. "I am so very pleased to endorse him. As a former Arkansas state representative I served alongside Governor Mike Huckabee and saw first hand his incredible bi-partisan leadership. Governor Huckabee has the communication skills of Ronald Reagan, and a common sense business approach to government. Governor Huckabee improved Arkansas roads, schools, reduced welfare roles, cut taxes and streamlined state government."
Jim Bob added, "More importantly he is a man of faith who is very wise, and will help get our nation back on track. Simply, he's a leader who will bring the moral clarity we need in the White House. Huckabee is the only candidate running for president who has successfully defeated the Clinton machine over and over again. The Duggar family asks all Republicans to join us in helping Governor Mike Huckabee become the next President of the United States of America."
The Conservative family previously supported Huckabee in his 2008 presidential run, and reportedly urged him to run again in 2012. However, because he declined, the family endorsed former Sen. Rick Santorum instead--even bringing 12 of their 19 children to Iowa to campaign for him ahead of the Iowa Caucus.
In turn, Huckabee has repeatedly praised the Duggar family; in his book, "God, Guns, Grits, and Gravy," he described Jim Bob and Michelle's children as "every parent's dream" in their "attitudes toward each other, their parents, and their chores.
"I've pointed them out as an example of something that's wholesome and wonderful," he told People Magazine back in January, "and I've known them since Jim Bob was in the legislature when I was governor."
