Former Arkansas Gov. Hutchinson Announces Presidential Run

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Facts

• Asa Hutchinson, former Republican Governor of Arkansas, on Sunday announced during a television appearance that he will run for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination. He said he will make a formal announcement later this month.¹
• Hutchinson is the fourth Republican to announce a 2024 run, following former Pres. Donald Trump, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.²
• During his appearance on “ABC This Week,” Hutchinson said during his travels around the US people have asked for better leadership from “leaders that appeal to the best of America, and not simply appeal to our worst instincts.”³
• Hutchinson’s announcement is the first by a Republican candidate since Trump was indicted by a New York grand jury last week. When asked if Trump should drop out of the race, Hutchinson said the former president should “for the sake of the office” and to avoid making it a “sideshow and distraction.”⁴
• Term limits ended Hutchinson’s tenure as Arkansas governor in January. He served in Congress in the 1990s, and was head of the Drug Enforcement Agency as well as an undersecretary of homeland security during the George W. Bush administration.⁵
• As governor, Hutchinson signed a near-total abortion ban and supported the death penalty. But he also bucked his party's positions when he vetoed legislation banning gender transition surgery for minors and supporting mask mandates during the COVID pandemic.⁶

Sources: ¹NPR Online News, ²FOX News, ³CBS, ⁴Daily Wire, ⁵NBC and ⁶Washington Post.

Narratives

• Pro-Trump narrative, as provided by InfoWars. Hutchinson is another RINO (Republican in Name Only) with a minuscule chance of claiming the GOP nomination. He was on the wrong side of Biden’s vaccine and mask mandates and vetoed a bill that would have protected children from gender-affirming care. He truly sealed his fate, however, with his criticisms of Trump who is still the standard-bearer for the party.
• Republican narrative, as provided by National review. Attacking Hutchinson on his Republican bona fides is ridiculous considering his track record on abortion, his strong relationship with the National Rifle Association, and his hardline position against the Affordable Care Act. Republicans would be wise to consider someone like Hutchinson in the primary mix, along with Trump, to provide multiple options to defeat Biden.

Predictions