Republican presidential candidate and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee says reports that Pope Francis regrets meeting with Kentucky clerk Kim Davis in Washington D.C. last week were surprising and “coming out of left field,” citing his own conversations with Davis’ attorney.

“Yeah, that’s very interesting because that seems to be coming out of left field. Here’s why: I talked to Mat Staver, Kim Davis’ attorney,” Huckabee said on NewsMaxTV Friday.

“He confirmed with me just this morning, the Vatican invited Kim Davis and it was a private meeting,” he said. “It wasn’t that she was in a long line of people who just went by and shook hands. It was a private meeting with no one but she, her husband and the pope and one of his personnel.”

A Vatican official told Reuters there was “a sense of regret” the Pope met with Davis, who became a national news figure after she refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, citing religious freedom.