LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Asa Hutchinsonwho served two terms as governor of Arkansas, will seek the Republican presidential nomination, positioning himself as an alternative to donald trump just days after the former president was indicted by a grand jury in New York.
In an interview that aired on ABC’s “This Week” Sunday, Hutchinson said Trump should withdraw from the race, arguing that “the office is more important than any individual person.”
“I am running because I believe that I am the right time for America, the right candidate for our country and its future,” he said. “I am convinced that the people want leaders who bring out the best in America and not just appeal to our worst instincts.”
Hutchinson is the first Republican to announce a campaign after Trump became the first former US president to face criminal charges. His candidacy will test the GOP’s appetite for those who speak out against Trump. Others who have criticized Trump, including former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, have opted against a campaignintuiting the difficulty of prevailing in a primary.
And in a sign of Trump’s continued control of the Republican base, most in the party, including those considering challenging him for the nomination, have defended him against the New York impeachment. That, for now at least, leaves Hutchinson as a distinct outlier among republicans.
In addition to Trump, Hutchinson joins a Republican camp that also includes the former UN ambassador. nikki haley and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy. florida governor ron desantis is expected to jump into the race in the summer, while US Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former Vice President mike pence are among those considering offers.
Hutchinson, 72, left office in January after eight years as governor. He has increased his criticism of the former president in recent months, calling another Trump presidential nomination the “worst case scenario” for Republicans and saying it will likely benefit the president. by Joe Biden possibilities in 2024.
The former governor, whose term was limited, has been a fixture in Arkansas politics since the 1980s, when the state was predominantly Democratic. Former congressman, he was one of the House administrators who prosecuted the impeachment case against the president Bill Clinton.
Hutchinson served as president George W. Bush head of the Drug Enforcement Administration and was deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.
As governor, Hutchinson advocated for a series of income tax cuts as the state’s budget surpluses grew. He signed several restrictions on abortion into law, including a ban on the procedure that took effect when the US Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade last year. Hutchinson, however, said he regretted that the measure did not include exceptions for rape or incest.
Hutchinson earned the ire of Trump and social conservatives last year when vetoed legislation ban gender-affirming health care for children. The Republican-majority Arkansas Legislature overrode Hutchinson’s veto and enacted the ban, which has been temporarily blocked by a federal judge.
Trump called Hutchinson a “RINO,” a Republican in name only, for the veto. Hutchinson’s successor, former White House press secretary sarah huckabee sandershas said that she would have signed the legislation.
Hutchinson, who has enacted other restrictions on transgender youth, said the Arkansas ban went too far and he would have signed the measure if it had focused only on surgery.
Hutchinson endorsed Sanders’ run for governor.
Sanders has yet to publicly endorse Trump or anyone else in the 2024 presidential race. He has avoided direct criticism of his predecessor, even as he parted ways with him on several policies.
Among the bills he has signed since taking office is legislation to reinstate the ban on gender-affirming care for minors that Hutchinson opposed by making it easier to sue providers of such care. He also dissolved five panels that Hutchinson had formed to advise him on the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, saying he wanted the state to focus on other health challenges.
Though he has supported Trump’s policies, Hutchinson has become increasingly critical of the former president’s rhetoric and lies about the 2020 presidential election. He said Trump’s call to end parts of the Constitution to repeal the election hurt the country. .
Hutchinson also criticized Trump for meeting with white nationalist leader Nick Fuentes and rapper Ye, who has praised Adolf Hitler and spewed anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. Hutchinson has contrasted that meeting with his own experience as a federal prosecutor prosecuting white supremacists in Arkansas in the 1980s.
Hutchinson, who opposed federal health care law, after taking office supported keeping Arkansas’ version of Medicaid expansion. But he defended a work requirement for the law that was blocked by a federal judge.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Hutchinson tried to counter misinformation about the virus with daily press conferences and a series of town hall meetings held across the state to encourage people to get vaccinated.
Hutchinson angered opponents of the death penalty in 2017 when ordered eight executions over a two-week period, scheduling them before one of the state’s lethal injection drugs expired. The state ultimately carried out four of the executions.
The former governor is better known for talking politics than fiery speeches, often accompanied by charts and graphs, at his news conferences at the state Capitol. Instead of picking fights on Twitter, he tweets Bible verses every Sunday morning.
Hutchinson, who graduated from evangelical Bob Jones University in South Carolina, said in the ABC interview that he considers himself part of the evangelical community.
“I think the evangelical community understands that we need to have a leader who can distance himself from some of the bad instincts that drive Mr. Trump,” he said. “And I hope we can do that in the future.”
Associated Press writer Michelle L. Price in New York contributed to this report.