Huckabee defends Michelle Obama against Palin

A few days after Sarah Palin dissed Michelle Obama's anti-obesity campaign on her reality show, the first lady is picking up support from an unusual ally.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said Tuesday that he believes Palin is wrong about Obama's efforts to curb childhood obesity.

"With all due respect to my colleague and friend Sarah Palin, I think she's misunderstood what Michelle Obama is trying to do," Huckabee told "The Curtis Sliwa Show" on the radio, per Politico. Huckabee and Palin are both potential GOP presidential contenders for 2012.

Palin has repeatedly criticized Obama's efforts, most recently on the latest episode of "Sarah Palin's Alaska." In the scene, Alaska's ex-governor took a dig at Obama while cooking s'mores. "In honor of Michelle Obama, who said the other day we should not have dessert," Palin declared.

In November, Palin hand-delivered cookies to a Pennsylvania school before delivering a speech there. "Who should be deciding what I eat?" Palin said at the time. "Should be it be government or should it be parents? It should be parents."

But Huckabee, who has himself lost more than 100 pounds, said Obama's campaign is "on target."

"Michelle Obama is not trying to tell people what to eat or not trying to force the government's desires on people," Huckabee said. "She's stating the obvious, that we do have an obesity problem in this country."

(Photo of Huckabee: Eric Gay/AP)