Asa Hutchinson is running for president
Asa Hutchinson: Changing the dynamics of the Republican presidential campaign and what we can learn from a candidate that isn’t
As a former governor of Arkansas, Asa Hutchinson, announced his bid for the Republican presidential nomination, saying that he believes people want leaders that appeal to the best of America.
In an interview with ABC New, Hutchinson said he would make an announcement later this month, noting that he was convinced that people wanted leaders that appealed to the best of America.
The GOP field is in early stages. Trump launched a third presidential campaign last year, as the first major rival to challenge him was Haley, the former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador. There have been moves made by other Republicans suggesting they are considering a bid for the White House.
The office is more important than any person. So for the sake of the office of the presidency, I do think that’s too much of a sideshow and distraction,” Hutchinson said. “He needs to be able to concentrate on his due process.”
Mr. Hutchinson has made several trips to Iowa, where he has tested out what he has called a message of “consistent conservatism” to Republican voters who have flocked to Mr. Trump in the past two elections. Recent polls show that Mr. Trump is holding onto his lead among primary voters. The former president is expected to be arraigned on Tuesday in Manhattan on charges that he falsified business records and violated New York campaign finance law to cover up hush-money payments to a pornographic film actress in the final days of the 2016 election.
“What struck me as I was in Orange County, California, and as I was in Iowa for three days this week, was that the Trump factor really didn’t come up,” he said in an interview on Sunday, after he announced his candidacy on ABC’s “This Week.” The voters, he said, “are talking about things that matter to them, which is the economy, which is the fentanyl crisis that we have, and the relationship and leadership of America on the world stage.”
The announcement comes days after the former Arkansas governor spent days in Iowa, which will hold the first presidential caucus, leading to speculation that he would announce his intention to run.
“In the early stages, multiple candidates that have an alternative vision to what the president has is good for our party, good for the debate, good for the upcoming debate that will be in August,” Hutchinson told CNN last month.
In a crowded primary field, the anti-Trump vote could splinter and allow the former president to get the nomination, according to some Republican strategists.
That will narrow and probably narrow quickly. We need to have a lot of self-evaluation as you go along, but I think more voices now that provide alternative messages and problem-solving and ideas is good for our party,” he added.
Tim Hutchinson: The first black American prosecutor to step aside from a Presidential race over a case of perjury and obstruction of justice
Though not widely known nationally, Hutchinson has had an extensive career in government – serving previously as a federal prosecutor, a member of Congress, and in the George W. Bush administration, all before his election as governor in 2014.
He often butted heads with the legislature when he was in office, such as when he vetoes a bill that forbids gender-affirming treatment for anyone under the age of 18. Hutchinson said the bill was a great example of government overreach. The legislature ended up overriding his veto.
Hutchinson received both an accounting degree from Bob Jones University in South Carolina and a law degree from the University of Arkansas.
President Ronald Reagan tapped him to be the US attorney for the Western District of Arkansas in 1982, making him the youngest federal prosecutor at the time at 31. He gained infamy for his prosecution of the White supremacist group when he donned a bulletproof vest to help the FBI end their standoff with the group.
Hutchison lost bids for US Senate in 1986 and for Arkansas attorney general in 1990 but then won a seat in the US House of Representatives in 1996. Tim was elected to the US Senate.
In the 1999 impeachment trial of Bill Clinton, Hutchinson served as one of the GOP managers for the case that the Democrats had committed perjury and obstruction of justice. Clinton was found not guilty on both articles of impeachment.
Just two days before Trump will surrender to authorities in New York following his indictment by a Manhattan grand jury over hush money payments made to Stormy Daniels, an announcement was made. It is the first time in history that a person has resided in the White House. Hutchinson subsequently called on Trump to step aside from the race.
He told ABC the “grand jury found probable cause and that’s the standard for any criminal charges in our society.” The rest of his party has characterized the charges as politically motivated.
