Mike Huckabee Hit With $25K Tab For Playing "Eye Of The Tiger" At Kim Davis Rally

Gov. Mike Huckabee (L) with Kim Davis (C)

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee may have ended his 2016 presidential campaign on February 1st of this year, but he's still paying off the debts racked up on his behalf.

Part of that tab is settlement from a copyright infringement lawsuit surrounding his campaign's using the song "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor at a rally for anti-marriage equality County Clerk Kim Davis.

Apparently, Huckabee initially tried to get out of paying the royalty infringement by saying in court the rally was a "religious assembly." But then the item showed up as a presidential campaign expense on his Federal Election Commission filing.

Clearly presidential campaigns are not "religious assemblies."

From CNN:

Huckabee played the triumphant song by the band Survivor at a rally he held for Kim Davis, the Kentucky county clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

But Huckabee never paid for the rights -- so his campaign got sued for copyright infringement.

He recently agreed to a confidential settlement with Rude Music. That company is owned by the Survivor guitarist who cowrote the song, Frankie Sullivan.

They settled out of court, and it came to light when Huckabee listed the $25,000 cost as a campaign expense on federal election records. A payment to Rude Music is listed as a "legal settlement" for "copyright infringement."

Huckabee paid half of it in May and listed the $12,500 payment as an "itemized disbursement." He listed the other half as "debts and obligations." Both appear on a June 20 filing.

Huckabee ran for the Republican ticket until he dropped out Feb. 1, but he's still paying off the cost of his campaign.