On the eve of the caucuses in Iowa, Republican Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee appeared this evening on NBC’s Tonight Show with Jay Leno, claiming not to have understood, according to AP (the show has yet to air out here in the West), that he was crossing a picket line to do so, as writers for the show continue to be on strike.
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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 guitar playing with the band.
“Huckabee claims he didn’t know,” chief union negotiator John Bowman said. “I don’t know what that means in terms of trusting him as a future president.”
Most of the other late-night talkers also returned to new broadcasts tonight, but only David Letterman on CBS, along with Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, which follows him, did so under an agreement with the striking writers.
AP has more coverage of all of the returning late-night shows tonight. If we can get the video from Huckabee’s appearance, we’ll update this item.
UPDATE FROM ALAN: Video now available below…
Part 1…
Part 2…
(Hat-tip RAW STORY)
I can accept that Huckabee honestly didn’t know, but what the heck does he pay his “people” to do? Surely these guys would have asked questions.
Does anyone else daydream of moving to Mexico?
Show me any Republican that wasn’t/isn’t a union buster…I can’t recall any that were pro union.
Unions are the foundation of the middle class in one sense, so who are Huck’s supporters?
The unions for actors, writers, and the like in California are weak as it is. They need to grow stronger … Huck is an insensitive elitist.
I think you guys are being to hard on Huck. The Night Shows have been advertising for weeks that they were returning after the new year. How is anyone who has been campaining day and night suppose to know what agreements have been made between the writers and the shows? Also, are all the invited guest going to be threatend by the picket lines?