Mike Huckabee just wants to clarify that he's 'never stabbed anybody'

Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee made a bold statement Monday to Mika Brzezinski on MSNBC's Morning Joe: "I will go on record today and tell you this, Mika: I never hit my mother with a hammer and I never stabbed anybody," Huckabee said. "Never wrote about it either."

It was an obvious dig at one of his primary opponents, Ben Carson. On Thursday, CNN questioned the validity of the retired neurosurgeon's tales of sporadic violence in his youth, including one anecdote about stabbing a friend and another about hitting his mother with a hammer. That led to increased media scrutiny of Carson's background, which, predictably, he did not appreciate.

The former Arkansas governor has no sympathy for Carson, warning him, "Pal, you ain't seen nothing yet."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

"You know that if you run for office, you're going to be put through the sausage grinder," Huckabee said.

Watch Huckabee's full interview below. Julie Kliegman