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Former red state governor announces he’s joining the 2024 presidential race and nobody cares

April 3, 2023 | | Print Article

Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced on Sunday that he is running for president in 2024 and nobody cared.

Well, that may be somewhat of an exaggeration, as the Trump-hating media certainly took notice. But the fact that Hutchinson made his announcement during an interview with Jonathan Karl on ABC’s “This Week,” rather than in a roomful of voters may speak volumes.

“I am going to be running. And the reason, as I’ve traveled the country for six months, I hear people talk about the leadership of our country, and I’m convinced that people want leaders that appeal to the best of America, and not simply appeal to our worst instincts,” Hutchinson said. “I believe I can be that kind of leader for the people of America.”

Justifying the national stage he was given, the former governor wasted no time calling on former President Donald Trump to withdraw from the race because of the politically-motivated indictment from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

“Well he should,” Hutchinson said when Karl asked the inevitable question. “But at the same time, we know he’s not [going to]. And there’s not any constitutional requirement.”

“I mean, first of all, the office is more important than any individual person. And so for the sake of the office of the presidency, I do think that’s too much of a sideshow and distraction, and he needs to be able to concentrate on his due process,” the Republican said.

He went easy on Bragg, who campaigned for office vowing to get Trump.

“I don’t like the idea of the charges from what I’ve seen coming out of New York,” Hutchinson said. “But the process has got to work, and we’ve got to have respect for our criminal justice system, but also for the office of the presidency.”

While Hutchinson believes the indictment will become too big of a “sideshow,” he apparently does not mind the unrelenting pursuit of Trump — who is without a doubt the most persecuted man in modern American history, no matter how you feel about him — by Democrats and the media, almost from the moment he came down the Trump Tower escalator.

He joins fellow B-role players, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and conservative entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, in challenging Trump in the Republican primary. Haley and Ramaswamy share an interesting commonality, a propensity to go easy on Trump while blasting the one man who may be a legitimate contender, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Here’s a quick sampling of responses to the story from Twitter:

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