Mike "Scab" Huckabee Claims He Didn't Know "Tonight Show" Writers Were Still Striking [VIDEO]

Posted by Steve Benen, The Carpetbagger Report at 12:00 PM on January 3, 2008.

Mike Huckabee appearance on the "Tonight Show" last night seems like inconsequential trivia. It's an entertainment show; Huckabee is trying to score some 11th-hour likability points; and it's probably a sign that the former governor's campaign is trying to expand his base beyond religious right activists in Iowa.

But the problem with the appearance is more nuanced than that. Huckabee, who is still trying to maintain the fiction that he's a "populist," expressed strong support for the Writers' Guild strike, and then crossed the WGA picket line.

Earlier Wednesday, Huckabee said he supports the writers and did not think he would be crossing a picket line, because he believed the writers had made an agreement to allow late night shows back on the air.

"My understanding is that there was a special arrangement made for the late-night shows, and the writers have made this agreement to let the late night shows to come back on, so I don't anticipate that it's crossing a picket line," Huckabee told reporters traveling with him Wednesday from Fort Dodge to Mason City.

In fact, that is true only of David Letterman, who has a separate agreement with writers for his "Late Show."

Told he was mistaken and that writers had cleared only Letterman's show, Huckabee protested:

"But my understanding is there's a sort of dispensation given to the late-night shows, is that right?"

Told again that he was wrong, Huckabee murmured, "Hmmm," and, "Oh," before answering another question.

Look, this need not be complicated. If Huckabee wants to cross a picket line, that's his choice, and he can accept the consequences of thumbing his nose at unions. But this is actually much worse -- Huckabee crossed a picket line of workers he claims to support enthusiastically.

Huckabee said he stood with the writers.

"I support the writers, by the way. Unequivocally, absolutely," he said. "They're dead right on this one. And they ought to get royalties off the residuals and the long-term contracts."

"I don't think anybody supports the producers on this one," he added. "Maybe the producers support the producers, but I think everybody in the business and even the general public supports the writers."

What? If someone "unequivocally" supports the striking union members, he wouldn't cross their picket line and undermine their strike. What's more, he'd know the basics about the major labor dispute before talking to reporters about it -- and getting the facts wrong.

What's more, the last thing Huckabee needed right now is yet another example of talking about something he doesn't understand, and then flubbing all the pertinent details. As ABC News' Jake Tapper noted, this is "the latest example of Huckabee being uninformed about a major event."

As for the union, the writers are not impressed by Huckabee's absurd I-support-the-strike-but-not-really argument.

Huckabee said he supports the writers and did not think he would be crossing a picket line, because he believed the writers had made an agreement to allow late-night shows on the air. But that's not the case with Leno; "Huckabee is a scab," read one picket sign outside Leno's Burbank, Calif., studio.

The writers guild urged Huckabee not to cross their picket line after he flew out to California. But Huckabee appeared on Leno, even showing off his electric [bass] guitar playing with the band.

John Bowman, the WGA's chief union negotiator, said, "Huckabee claims he didn't know. I don't know what that means in terms of trusting him as a future president."

Tagged as: wga, huckabee, tonight show, leno, labor

Steve Benen is a freelance writer/researcher and creator of The Carpetbagger Report. In addition, he is the lead editor of Salon.com's Blog Report, and has been a contributor to Talking Points Memo, Washington Monthly, Crooks & Liars, The American Prospect, and the Guardian.