Huntsman has been a leftist since the beginning. That was obvious during the primaries. He was one of the few to the left of Romney. Not for nothing did Obama choose him as his Ambassador to his pals in China.
There is bad blood towards the Romneys by the Huntsmans. Jon Huntsman Jr. is an elitist of the worst sort. He thinks Mitt Romney shouldnt have been in the limelight; he should have been. He thinks he is a foreign policy expert because of his experience as Ambassador to China and the fact that he can speak Chinese (he was appointed by Obama so that should tell you something about Huntsman right there). Jon Huntsman the younger is quite liberal and is politically ambitious and thinks Mitt isnt as qualified as he is.
The bad blood goes back to the Winter Olympics held in Utah years ago where Mitt Romney was brought in to save it from financial ruin, which he did. Jon Huntsman the younger was also in contention for that position, but Mitt was chosen, not Jon, to fix the Olympics. Jon Huntsman was ticked off about this bigtime and the grudge remains.
When Mitt ran for Prez the first time, it was expected Huntsman the younger would support Mitt in the primaries. Mitt and Jon, both Mormons, are distantly related (3rd cousins, once removed). Jon didnt, he supported John McCain instead. Jons father initially worked on Mitts campaign. He quit after his son threw his support to McCain, and after that the ties between the two Mormon families were basically severed.
Bottom line, Mitt and Jon dont like each other, although Mitt doesnt badmouth Jon, but Jon does badmouth Mitt any chance he gets. Hes a nasty, elitist piece of work, and if Mitt Romney actually gets in to run for Prez in 2016, odds are Jon Huntsman will then jump in also to further pursue his animosity and rivalry towards Mitt. This is the background filler for the Romney and Huntsman families and the basis of the rivalry between them.