Jon Huntsman Jr. is done pulling punches

During a nationwide conference call Wednesday night arranged by the nonpartisan watchdog group NoLabels — and with more than 50,000 people listening in — former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. pulled no punches in skewering Republicans and Democrats alike.

"I’m downright embarrassed with where we are as a nation and what we’re about to pass on to the next generation," Huntsman said, per the Salt Lake Tribune. "So we have a choice as citizens and public elected officials to stand on the sidelines and watch it play out or step up and do something about it."

Utah Policy's Bob Bernick summarized Huntsman's performance: "Maybe it was the emotion of the moment, but Wednesday night in a national telephone conference call, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman sounded less like a Republican, more like a citizen of America and the world. And he took more than a few shots at incumbent U.S. Congress members, clearly saying that members of both political parties just weren’t doing a good job, and in fact had run the country off the road."

In other Huntsman news, KSL.com reported the former U.S. ambassador to China endorsed Mike Winder on Tuesday in the race for Salt Lake County Mayor.

"Mike can lay claim to that which most in politics lack, a real track record of leadership and accomplishments," Huntsman said in a release.