Ex-Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson launches GOP White House bid and calls on Trump to drop out over indictment

‘I’m convinced that people want leaders that appeal to the best of America’

Former Arkansas Gov Asa Hutchinson has announced that he will seek the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

“I have made a decision, and my decision is I’m going to run for president of the United States,” Mr Hutchinson told ABC News’ This Week on Sunday. “And the reason is, I’ve traveled the country for six months, I hear people talk about the leadership of our country. I’m convinced that people want leaders that appeal to the best of America, and not simply appeal to our worst instincts.”

Mr Hutchinson has argued that Donald Trump should drop out of the presidential race now that the former president is under criminal indictment. He stuck to that position during his Sunday appearance.

“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 and there is a presumption of innocence,” Mr Hutchinson said.

“I’ve always said that people don’t have to step aside from public office if they’re under investigation, but if it reaches the point of criminal charges that have to be answered, the office is always more important than a person. And so, there’s some consistency there. And I do believe if we’re looking at the presidency and the future of our country, then we don’t need that distraction,” he added.

The former Arkansas governor faces long odds to win the GOP nomination next year. He has been a fixture of the Sunday morning political talk shows, where he often weighs in on policy debates. Mr Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis have so far led the pack of prospective Republican presidential candidates, though the governor has not officially announced his bid. Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley also recently jumped into the presidential race, and is polling in the single digits.

Perhaps indicating the steep climb ahead of him, his own state is now represented by former Trump White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who is now more unlikely than ever to endorse her predecessor’s bid for national office. Ms Huckabee Sanders delivered the pro-Trump GOP response to the State of the Union address earlier this year.

Mr Trump’s dominance over the GOP field has only grown since news emerged that he would face criminal prosecution. Republicans far and wide have rallied around the former president and decried the Manhattan indictment as a political witch hunt, despite the fact that no one has seen the actual charges filed against Mr Trump.

The former is scheduled to be arraigned in Manhattan criminal court on Tuesday, and plans to speak at a press conference from Mar-a-Lago later that evening.