Asa Hutchinson Announces Candidacy For GOP Presidential Nomination, Says Trump Should Withdraw From Race

Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced on Sunday that he will run for President in 2024, aiming to win the Republican nomination in his party’s upcoming primary race.

Aside from former President Donald Trump, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley and “anti-wok” conservative entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy have also officially announced their candidacies for the Republican nomination. It is widely assumed that former Vice President Mike Pence and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will soon join the race as well. Others, such as former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former National Security Advisor John Bolton have also signaled an interest in the Republican nomination.

Hutchinson’s timing is likely not accidental coming right after Trump was indicted in New York on Thursday for charges related to hush money payments to a porn star. He will be in court on Tuesday.

“Well he should,” Hutchinson said in an interview this weekend when asked if Trump should pull out of the race following the indictment. “But at the same time, we know he’s not [going to]. And there’s not any constitutional requirement.”

Hutchinson argued that the indictment and trial will become a “sideshow,” and that it will be a distraction from the race.

As governor, Hutchinson enacted some of the most conservative state legislation in the country.

Perhaps most notably, he signed one of the country’s most restrictive abortion bills in 2021, nearly banning the practice with no exceptions for rape or incest. He admitted at the time that the bill went against legal precedence, but was hoping to cause the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, which it did in June 2022.

Hutchinson also was the first governor to reform Medicaid in his state, forcing recipients to perform at least 80 hours a week of work to be included in the program. The move kicked over 18,000 people off of their healthcare plans, although a federal judge later struck down the requirements.

In 2016, Hutchinson described Trump as “exactly the kind of transparent, straight-talking leader America needs.”