Jon Huntsman On Chuck Hagel Confirmation: 'I Think He'll Have The Numbers' (VIDEO)

Former Republican presidential candidate Gov. Jon Huntsman discussed the controversial nomination of Chuck Hagel for secretary of defense Monday, saying he believed Hagel would eventually be confirmed by the Senate.

"The confirmation process is a constitutional responsibility of the Senate and they take it very, very seriously and they're going to ask all of these questions," Huntsman told HuffPost Live. "What I would like to see, for somebody who's going to be running the Department of Defense, which we spend $700 billion a year on, is someone who basically can look around the bend and see where the challenges are likely to lie and how they'll respond to those challenges."

HuffPost Live host Abby Huntsman, who is also the former Utah governor's daughter, also asked whether he would vote in favor of the controversial nomination if he was in the Senate.

"Well, I would want to listen to what he has to say if I were in the Senate, to be sure," Huntsman said. "But I think the early signs are that he's an independent thinker and that's a good thing."

Watch the Full Segment with Jon Huntsman and Cory Booker on HuffPost Live.