Only on Brody File: Mike Huckabee Tells Skeptical Evangelicals That They Should Vote for Romney

In a one-on-one interview with The Brody File, Mike Huckabee says Mitt Romney should not shy away from talking about his faith and says he’s telling his skeptical evangelical friends they should vote for him. If elected, Romney would be the first Mormon president.

Huckabee sat down with us at the GOP Convention in Tampa and will be one of our guests on this week’s Brody File Show this Friday at 9:30 a.m.ET on the ABC Family Channel.

Watch below along with the transcription.

David Brody: Do you think he should talk more about his faith?

Mike Huckabee: I think there’s no need for Mitt Romney to be reluctant to talk about his faith, and his relationship with his church. I know there’s a sensitivity and I’ve heard of all of the talk about some people saying, 'Oh, I am not sure if I want to vote for a Mormon.' I think that’s nonsense, and here’s why.

I may not be Mormon, but I am so grateful for the Mormons’ position on issues that are of great importance to me. Let’s face it. Prop 8 would never have happened in California had it not been for the Mormon Church, they were there. Financially, they were there organizationally, would not have happened. So, I’m far more able to identify with all the Mormons than I am with the Democrats, that are an easy call for me.

So I’m telling all of my evangelical friends that say well, should I vote for a Mormon? I say yeah, why not? I mean, because when we talk about it, it doesn’t matter where he goes to church; it matters where he’s going to take the country, that’s what really becomes important to me.

The other thing about his faith that I think is quite endearing, he lives it. You know, it’s one thing for a person to say I am a member of this church, haven’t been there in 20 years, haven’t written a $10 check to it. Here’s a guy who gives 15 percent of his income away.

And for Christians, the tithing is not something that is small to us. It matters that people take their faith so seriously, because we do understand the biblical mandate of where a man’s heart is, that’s where his treasure will be. So, if a person’s heart says I’m going to give, it means he keeps his treasure there. Treasure and heart have a real connection there.

Brody: I went Salt Lake City and visited with elders of the church. They say it's not just a Sunday faith at all.

Huckabee: I think it’s one of the things that is most admirable about the Mormon faith is that in their congregation, they take care of the people who have hurts and who have needs. You don’t see Mormons on welfare; they don’t need to be because their church is going to envelope them in the love and compassion of their church.

If all of the evangelicals, I would go this far, if all my good Baptist brothers and sisters would give a dime out of a dollar of their income, and they would tithe that money for widows and orphans and poor people, government welfare need not exist. So, I think there’s a great lesson there.