Although the anti-gay chicken restaurant is under steam as a whole from gay rights activists who are boycotting, many came out to support Chick-fil-A on "Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day."
Mike Huckabee said Thursday that the success of "Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day" went beyond "anything I could have imagined," saying stores across the country reported "record, historic sales," according to FOX News.
More than 630,000 supporters signed up to celebrate "Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day" Wednesday, which former Arkansas Gov. Huckabee created to counter a boycott launched by gay marriage activists last week after President Dan Cathy said he was "guilty as charged" for not supporting gay marriage, ABC News reported.
"The goal is simple," Huckabee wrote on the Facebook page for the event. "Let's affirm a business that operates on Christian principles and whose executives are willing to take a stand for the Godly values we espouse by simply showing up and eating at Chick Fil-A on Wednesday, August 1."
Huckabee said the call for an "Appreciation Day" was in response to what he described as "economic bullying" by people trying to put Cathy "out of business," FOX News reported.
"It was just getting out of hand," Huckabee said.
Crammed drive-throughs caused traffic jams on nearby streets, often requiring attendants to direct cars. At several locations in Orange County and Long Beach, lunchtime crowds swelled to more than 100 people.
"I believe what the Bible says (about marriage)," Chauncy Fields told FOX News after wolfing down a breakfast of chicken and biscuits. "So I came out here to support Chick-fil-A and the movement."
Chris Johnson sees a double standard. "He (Dan Cathy) said the exact same thing that President Obama said," Johnson told Fox News -- referring to the president's past opposition to gay marriage - "And he gets negativity, and Obama gets positivity."
Huckabee himself stopped at a Chick-fil-A in Destin, Fla., according to his Facebook page, reported Politico.
FOX News reported that on Friday, supporters of same-sex marriage will have their say. They plan a "kiss-in" at Chick-fil-A restaurants across the country - encouraging gays and lesbians to share a public display of affection at the home of the chicken sandwich. It is called "National Same-Sex Kiss Day."