The Hill News

Jon Huntsman Sr., the billionaire businessman and father of the Republican presidential hopeful, said his son is only lagging in the polls because the other candidates had such a massive head start.

“One has to understand that six months ago, he was helping to resolve the problems of China, and dealing with problems or situations in North Korea and Taiwan," Huntsman Sr. said. "Then all of a sudden, your focus shifts to all of these public policy issues from the United States and it's a very different set of conditions. I think he's made a remarkable transition."

Speaking to the Deseret News in Utah before dedicating an expansion of the Huntsman Cancer Institute on Friday, Huntsman ! Sr. argued that his son was wildly popular in China after his stint as U.S. ambassador, and said it’s only a matter of time before the same happens in the United States.

"If he were running for president of China, he would have already won the election," he said. "But he's had to come here and start from scratch. Most of the other candidates had a year or two or three or four. Mitt's had six.”

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