One Republican governor has issued the promise to try to make sure that the GOP nominee for 2024 is not former President Donald Trump.
Asa Hutchinson, the Republican Governor of Arkansas who is still considering a presidential bid of his own, was questioned by Jonathan Karl, the co-anchor of “This Week,” from ABC News about whether he would vote or offer support for Trump if the 45th President did end up getting the nomination once again.
“I’m going to do everything that we can to make sure there’s alternatives, that he is not the nominee. And, of course, that’s a – all depends upon who else is out there,” stated Hutchinson while speaking in the Sunday morning interview. “But I do not believe that Donald Trump should be the next president of the United States.”
“I do not believe that Donald Trump should be the next president of the United States…I think Jan. 6 really disqualifies him for the future. And so we move beyond that. And that’s what I'm going to be focused on,” Arkansas Gov. Hutchinson tells @JonKarl. https://t.co/xCAmiEc9Ly pic.twitter.com/LTm6SvsuqK
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) January 1, 2023
Recently, Trump publically announced his third campaign for a trip to the White House back in November. It’s still up in the air if any significant members of the GOP will step up to challenge Trump, who still seems quite popular throughout the party.
However, Hutchinson reiterated his long-held stance that the event that took place on January 6, 2021, — the day of the Capitol riot — fully disqualifies Trump from running in 2024, he made the claim it was quite “premature” when he was called on to speak about whether he would openly declare that under no circumstances would he stand in support Trump. Still, he made the argument that Trump does not “define” or reflect the Republican Party as a whole and promised that there had to be “other voices.”
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson warns RNC against putting up “obstacles” to unifying the Republican Party, telling @JonKarl that every candidate besides Donald Trump should have a chance to “showcase their skills and leadership capability.” https://t.co/xCAmiEc9Ly pic.twitter.com/LHc5zpVKvz
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) January 1, 2023
“I’m going to Iowa later this month. I’m excited about that. But no decision has been made now. And we can’t make a decision until a little bit later,” he stated. “But I want to be a part of the solutions for America. I want to showcase that there – you can have leaders that address problems and offer solutions and ideas.”
Hutchinson and Trump previously did have a piece of common ground back during the 2020 elections cycle as they both stood behind Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who ended up serving as Trump’s White House press secretary from 2017 to 2019 and is the daughter of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, with their endorsements as she made her announcement of a run for the next governor of Arkansas.
Sanders was able to secure the contest and is slated to be officially sworn in as the first female governor of the state as of the 10th of January.
