Buzzfeed reported last night:
Huntsman, the former Utah governor and once President Barack Obama’s Ambassador to China, expressed disappointment that the Republican Party disinvited him from a Florida fundraiser in March after he publicly called for a third party.
“This is what they do in China on party matters if you talk off script,” he said.
Right: they cancel your invite you to fundraisers, not say, throw you in jail. And beat you viciously. And for good measure, beat your family as well.
Huntsman tried to clarify the comment today on Morning Joe, saying, per Politico, “I said, you know, if you’re not on-script and you get knocked out of an event like that – the parties are supposed to be big-tent, you’re supposed to bring in all ideas – and I said, I thought for a moment about what they do in China if you go off-script. The party, they knock you out. We shouldn’t be doing that here, we should be accommodating all voices.”
Never mind the logical absurdity of asking a party to include someone who’s talking the need for a rival party. It’s too bad that Huntsman’s chosen to focus on this kind of thing in his media rounds post-candidacy, instead of some of the fiscal policies he embraced during his campaign, including the Ryan plan. Huntsman’s shown he can appeal to Democrats and independents; having him make the case for the value of the Ryan plan would be helpful.