Washington (CNN)Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee defended renting out his email list to a group selling hidden cures for cancer embedded in Bible verses, saying it was no different than CNN allowing advertisers for catheters or adult diapers to air alongside programming.
"My gosh, that's like saying, 'You run some ads on CNN. Do you personally agree with all the ads that run on CNN?' Huckabee said Wednesday to CNN's Jake Tapper on The Lead.
Political panel: How well positioned is Huckabee? 05:43
"I doubt you do. I'm sure there are some for maybe, I don't know, catheters or adult diapers. They're not products that you use or that you necessarily believe in," the 2016 Republican presidential candidate said. "I don't hold you responsible for that, and in that same way I don't think that people that understand how advertising works would hold me responsible for something that I didn't personally sign up for or endorse."
Huckabee, who won the Iowa caucuses during his first presidential bid in 2008, explained he couldn't dictate how people decided to use his large email list.
"I didn't actually control that part of our company," he said.
In 2008, Huckabee showed the ability to win over the Hawkeye State's social conservative base but little ability to move beyond that and win over more business-minded voters. He pledged his coalition this year would draw on more working-class voters who harbor deep antipathy for Washington.
Huckabee, who has drawn fire for saying that the Supreme Court could not overrule the law of God, defended himself Wednesday with Tapper.
When asked what he would do if the high court effectively legalized same-sex marriage, which the former Baptist preacher opposes, Huckabee said states should decide how to move forward.
"Well, I think states have to decide, do they follow through with legislation and create a law? The Supreme Court can't create a law," Huckabee said. "They can invalidate one, but even then the legislative body and the executive branch has to enable legislation, executives have to sign it, they have to enforce it. The courts can't do that."
If the court could unilaterally decide whether to overrule the other two branches, Huckabee said, "then we have turned the court into this super branch of government."
It was not immediately clear what Huckabee meant, though CNN has reached out to Huckabee's campaign for clarification.
The Supreme Court ruling would be based on the Constitution, which Congress does have the power to amend but requires a two-thirds majority to approve.
Photos: Mike Huckabee's political career
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee speaks at the Point of Grace Church for the Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition 2015 Spring Kick Off on April 25, 2015, in Waukee. The Republican is expected to announce May 5 he is running for president.
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Photos: Mike Huckabee's political career
Huckabee was born in the same Arkansas town as former President Bill Clinton. He is an ordained Baptist minister.
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Huckabee, here at a the Iowa Ag Summit in March 2015, served two terms as governor.
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Huckabee, center, visits the Western Wall in Jerusalem on February 1, 2010.
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In 2008, he debuted a weekend show for Fox News titled "Huckabee." He ended the program in early 2015.
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Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee speaks during the NRA-ILA Leadership Forum in Nashville, Tennessee, in April 2015.
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Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee delivers remarks to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park on February 10, 2012.
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Huckabee is surrounded by supporters and members of the news media after talking about his new book, 'A Simple Government: Twelve Things We Really Need from Washington (and a Trillion that We Don't!),' at the National Press Club on February 24, 2011, in Washington, D.C.
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Photos: Mike Huckabee's political career
Former Gov. Mike Huckabee signs a copy of his new book, 'A Simple Government: Twelve Things We Really Need from Washington (and a Trillion that We Don't!),' at the National Press Club on February 24, 2011.
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Huckabee attends a corner stone dedication ceremony for a new Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem on January 31, 2011.
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Mike Huckabee speaks to guests at the Iowa Freedom Summit on January 24, 2015, in Des Moines, Iowa.
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The politician plays bass guitar with his band Capitol Offense. T
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Photos: Mike Huckabee's political career
The band has opened for Willie Nelson and the Charlie Daniels Band and has played for two presidential inauguration balls.
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Photos: Mike Huckabee's political career
Huckabee (second from right), students and others attend the May 14, 2010, NAMM Foundation Wanna Play Fund event at Fox News studios in New York. The initiative, in conjunction with the VH1 Save the Music Foundation, includes instrument donations.
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Huckabee visits the West Bank settlement of Beit El, near Ramallah, on August 18, 2009. He issued controversial statements in support of Israeli settlements.
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