Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. has not ruled out another run for office – a revelation made during his appearance on a podcast hosted by his daughter, Abby.
Abby Huntsman just launched a new podcast, “I Wish Somebody Told Me,” along with producer and friend Lauren Leeds. The two sat down with the former governor to talk about the state of politics in their latest episode, not yet released.
“I’ll be honest, I was surprised how open he was willing to be about that chapter of his life and it was not an easy one and I was right there living it with him,” Abby said.
The former co-host of “The View” made a splash with her debut episode, revealing that while she left her network gig to work with her father on his campaign, that was her out, not her reason why. She said the workplace environment at the show was toxic.
It feels good she said, “having released the truth of it all,” even if it took three tapings to get to the real, raw emotion of what she said happened behind the scenes with network executives.
Her fourth and newest episode features her father, former Governor and US Ambassador Jon Huntsman Jr.
In the episode she asks, “do you think you have one more political run in your life, or are you willing to say an absolute no to that?”
His answer sounds like what you’d expect from a politician not ready to close the door without saying yes.
The former TV news anchor and host said of her father’s answer, “If he was sold on never running again, he would have said that. I was surprised he left the door slightly open.”
The former governor elaborated on his response saying.
“Life is full of serendipity. Life just sort of happens, and sometimes it happens in the most bizarre and unusual ways,” he said.
Take for example the elections of former President Donald Trump and current President Joe Biden – neither seemed likely to run even 10 or 15 years ago.
The former ambassador and governor is now working for Ford Motor Company as Vice Chair, a roll he’s filled outside of politics but still in his wheel house according to his daughter.
“I've seen my dad find pep in his step again,” she said.
The primary loss in Utah’s race for governor was not an easy one for the Huntsman family. The former governor was hoping to get his old job back. Complications from the coronavirus pandemic and social distancing made it difficult.
“It was a ridiculous election,” he said in the podcast. “It was an election we weren’t allowed to campaign.”
A year and a half later, the frustration is still evident in his voice, referring in the podcast to now governor, Spencer Cox – without using his name.
Gov. Cox, who was lieutenant governor at the time, was running while head of the state's Coronavirus Taskforce. A prime-time job that put him in front of the cameras and on the news on a daily basis – something many of those running for the same spot felt was unfair under the circumstances due to pandemic protocol.
Meanwhile Huntsman Jr. and three other challengers were stuck at home doing Zooms and tele-townhalls, unable to hold public forums.
Huntsman, while frustrated by the lockdowns, said he understood it was “a seasonal quirk, once per century pandemic,” adding, “I can lay some blame at my own feet. I wasn’t at my best self. I was terribly frustrated by it all and you could probably read it on my forehead.”
The former governor took part in the KUTV 2News gubernatorial debate while isolated in his own room while sick with COVID-19.
Abby Huntsman said, “I think he felt like he didn’t lose because he failed,” but instead not knowing what the outcome would have been if people had heard his real message and “he could have done this right.”
In the podcast, Huntsman talks about social media and how the 140-character limit to sell your message has created a “comms world” where messaging is reduced to soundbites instead of real conversations.
Not helping the political divide? Congress, he said, and an unwillingness in both parties to meet in the middle along, with longtime adversaries Russia and China.
“We are pulling each other so far apart we are doing exactly what the Russians want,” he said.
Abby asked her father if that was a real concern of his?
“Not if Americans are at their best. We have all the tools with respect to our constitution and freedom and liberties to be whatever we want to be,” he said. “The Russians and the Chinese are betting we will fail from within and they aid and abet that scenario that hypothesis by engaging in social media, troll accounts and cyberbanking. They engage in the worst form of discourse when it comes to division, racism, sexism.”
The echo chamber of social media including outside influence from the likes of China and Russia has changed the way people view politics and issues that were not always my way or the highway.
“We’ve all become angry and vote for the angry voice and then complain when they are in office, and it was our own doing,” he said.
In the podcast, Huntsman reflects on more than just life in politics, encouraging everyone to find a way to be better each day than the day before. Competing in life against ourselves instead of others. Thickening your skin when it comes to attacks, without hardening your heart.
His word for the decade? Resilience.
Listen to the full podcast with Abby Huntsman and Lauren Leeds when it drops Thursday November 11th wherever you listen to podcasts.