Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee (R.) will be joined by President Donald Trump as a guest on his new television talk show's first episode.
Huckabee confirmed Trump will be his guest when the show launches in October, according to an interview with the Atlantic. He further mentioned the strong support Trump received from Huckabee's audience – largely evangelical Christians – during the 2016 presidential election.
"[Trump] will, in fact, be my guest on the first television show that I do," Huckabee said.
The show is set to air on Trinity Broadcasting Network, an international Christian-based broadcast television network. The show's host said it will be the first show on the network to talk about politics, music, and faith.
Trump’s appearance on the pilot episode will give him the opportunity to speak to a core group of evangelical supporters, according to the Hill. Huckabee discussed Trump's relationship with people of faith during the interview:
Nobody pretends that he would be an ideal Sunday-school teacher, to be fair. I don’t think he is a person who is deeply acquainted with the Bible and he’s not known to set attendance records at church. But he’s very respectful of people of faith. And that’s really all people in the Christian community want. They don’t care whether or not the guy believes as they do.
The former governor, father of White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, has regularly made media appearances where he defends Trump, especially as some Christian leaders have publicly denounced his presidency or policies.
Huckabee was asked by the Atlantic if he takes seriously an accusation from Rev. William Barber, member of the national board of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and the chair of their Legislative Political Action Committee. Barber said during the 2016 presidential campaign that any Christian who supports Trump is guilty of "theological malpractice that borders on a form of heresy."
The former governor said he did not take the accusation seriously, and went on to lay blame on former President Barack Obama’s administration, saying people should be more concerned with the fact that "more African Americans were unemployed under President Obama than had ever been."
"I think the president has been very respectful of the faith community, and [evangelicals] overwhelmingly voted for him," Huckabee said.