LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) – Asa Hutchinson, who 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 New York grand jury. York.
In an interview that aired Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” Hutchinson said Trump should drop out of the race, arguing “the office is more important than anyone else.”
“I’m running because I believe it’s the right time for America, the right candidate for our country and its future,” he said. “I believe that people want a good leader for America and not just pull on their worst instincts.”
Hutchinson is the first Republican to announce his 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 voted against the campaign, saying it will be difficult to win the primary.
And in a sign of Trump’s continued grip on the Republican base, most in the party — even those who consider challenging him for the nomination — have defended him against the New York indictment. That, at least for now, leaves Hutchinson as a distinct outlier among Republicans.
In addition to Trump, Hutchinson joins a Republican field that also includes former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy. Florida Gov. 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 a bid.
Hutchinson, 72, left office in January after eight years as governor. He has stepped up his criticism of the former president in recent months, calling another Trump presidential nomination a “worst-case scenario” for Republicans and saying it would benefit Joe Biden’s chances in 2024.
The former governor, who is term-limited, has been a fixture in Arkansas politics since the 1980s, when the state was predominantly Democratic. A former congressman, he was one of the House managers who prosecuted the impeachment case against President Bill Clinton.
Hutchinson served as President George W. Bush’s Chief of Drug Enforcement Administration and as deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.
As governor, Hutchinson championed several income tax cuts as the state’s budget surplus increased. He signed several abortion bans into law, including a ban on the procedure that was in effect when the US Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade last year. However, Hutchinson said he regretted that the measure did not include an exception for rape or incest.
Hutchinson drew the ire of Trump and social conservatives last year when she vetoed legislation that would have banned gender-affirming medical treatment for children. The Arkansas majority-Republican Legislature overrode Hutchinson’s veto and implemented the ban, which has been temporarily blocked by a federal judge.
Trump called Hutchinson a “RINO” — a Republican in Name Only — for vetoing it. Hutchinson’s replacement, former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said she would sign the legislation.
Hutchinson, who signed other restrictions on transgender youth into law, said Arkansas’ ban went too far and he would have signed the measure if he had only focused on surgery.
Hutchinson endorsed Sanders’ bid for governor.
Sanders has not publicly endorsed Trump or anyone else in the 2024 presidential race. He has avoided direct criticism of his predecessor, although he has diverged from him on some policies.
Among the bills signed since taking office is legislation intended to roll back bans on gender-based care for minors that Hutchinson opposed by making it easier to sue providers of such care. He also disbanded five panels Hutchinson formed to advise on the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, saying he wanted the state to focus on other health challenges.
Although she has supported Trump’s policies, Hutchinson has become increasingly critical of the former president’s rhetoric and lies about the 2020 presidential election.
Hutchinson also criticized Trump for meeting with white nationalist leader Nick Fuentes and rapper Ye, who praised Adolf Hitler and spewed antisemitic conspiracy theories. Hutchinson contrasted the meeting with his own background as a U.S. attorney prosecuting white supremacy in Arkansas in the 1980s.
An opponent of the federal health law, Hutchinson after taking office supported keeping the Arkansas version of the Medicaid expansion. But he championed a work requirement for the law that was blocked by a federal judge.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Hutchinson tried to dispel misinformation about the virus with daily press conferences and several town halls held around the country aimed at encouraging people to get vaccinated.
Hutchinson angered death penalty opponents in 2017 when he ordered eight executions in two weeks, scheduled before one of the state’s lethal injection drugs was set to expire. The state eventually carried out four executions.
The former governor is better known for his policies than his fiery speeches, often flanked by charts and graphs at news conferences at the state Capitol. Instead of picking fights on Twitter, he tweets out Bible verses every Sunday morning.
Hutchinson, who graduated from Bob Jones University Evangelical College in South Carolina, said in an ABC interview that he considers himself part of the Evangelical community.
“I believe that the evangelical community knows that we need to have a leader who can get rid of some of the bad instincts that caused Mr. Trump,” he said. “And hopefully we can do that in the future.”
Associated Press writer Michelle L. Price in New York contributed to this report.