Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Arkansas will end enhanced unemployment advantages June 26.
Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson is running for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, he announced Sunday.
“I hear people talk concerning the leadership of our country, and I’m convinced that individuals want leaders that appeal to the very best of America, and never simply appeal to our worst instincts,” he told ABC’s “This Week.”
Hutchinson said he thinks his experience, messaging and hope for the longer term will resonate with Americans. He plans to campaign and “be in every single place” once he makes the formal announcement about his presidential bid later this month, he said.
Former President Donald Trump can be vying for the presidency in 2024. A Latest York grand jury voted Thursday to indict Trump in reference to a $130,000 hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election, and Hutchinson said he thinks the indictment is cause for Trump to drop out of the race.
Trump’s indictment marked a “sad day for America,” Hutchinson said, but additionally it is a “great distraction.” He said it will be important to take care of the integrity of public office, so Trump should focus on his due process.
“I do consider if we’re taking a look at the presidency and the longer term of our country, then we do not need that distraction and he must have the ability to focus on the legal issues that he faces,” he said.
Hutchinson served as governor of Arkansas since 2015, and he has been positioning himself as a substitute for Trump. His successor, Trump’s former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, was sworn in on Jan. 10, which freed him as much as pursue a shot on the presidency.
Since Trump’s indictment Thursday, Hutchinson has been firm about his calls for Trump to drop out of the first. Hutchinson shared a press release on Twitter that said Trump “shouldn’t be the subsequent president,” and he echoed that sentiment in an interview with NPR Saturday before reiterating it again on ABC’s “This Week” Sunday.
Hutchinson has also acted as undersecretary of the Department of Homeland Security and director of the Drug Enforcement Administration. He was also a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas.
