The Republican governor of Arkansas came out Sunday against a possible White House candidacy in 2024 for former President Donald Trump, arguing again that the two-time former president “should not define” the future of the Republican party.
During an interview on CNN State of the Union, Gov. Asa Hutchinson was asked by host Dana Bash about Arkansas State Senator Jim Hendren, who is Hutchinson’s nephew, announcing his departure from the Republican Party for Trump’s incitement to January 6 insurrectionary revolt at the United States Capitol.
“It makes me sad and it’s certainly a warning sign to us that there are many out there who would like to see a more civil dialogue and therefore I have tremendous respect for theirs, what they announced or what they think about it.” , said Hutchinson.
Noting that Hutchinson had previously said that Trump could not define the party to move forward, CNN’s anchor noted that the former president plans to make his first post-White House speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference. next week, while actively encouraging Republican major challenges that don’t embrace it.
“Has Trump managed to overthrow the Republican party as you know it?” Bash wondered aloud.
“It will only define the match if we let it go,” Hutchinson replied. That’s why my voice is important. Other people’s voices are important in this debate, and I think it’s okay for CPAC to invite former President Trump to speak. “
“He has a loud megaphone, but we have to have a lot of different voices and in my opinion we can’t let that define us for the future because that would further divide our country and hurt our Republican party,” he continued.
Meanwhile, Bash finally addressed the question of whether Trump was making fun of a 2024 race and asked the Arkansas governor if he would ever support Trump again.
“No, I wouldn’t,” Hutchinson definitely declared. “It’s time and he has a good family. I worked with Ivanka [Trump] and others and they love America. But I would not support him for re-election in 2024 ”.
“He will have a voice, as the former presidents do, but there are many voices in the party and, again, he should not define our future,” he concluded. “We have to define it for ourselves and that has to be based on the principles that gave us strength in America.”
While Hutchinson and some other Republicans have argued that Trump was the face of the party and the leader of the Republican Party in 2024, Republican voters see it as overwhelming as Trump’s party.
A recent Morning Consult poll reveals that 54% of Republican Party voters would support Trump in a 2024 Republican primary. Former Vice President Mike Pence, whose life was threatened by MAGA supporters in the Capitol riot, placed a distant second to the vote with 12%. The same poll also shows that 59% of Republican voters want Trump to play a prominent role in the future.