Gov. Asa Hutchinson nods at presidential bid
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Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union" that he's considering running for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
- A potential run by former President Donald Trump is "not a factor in my decision-making process," Hutchinson said.
Driving the news: "I've made it clear I think we ought to have a different direction in the future," Hutchinson said on CNN. "I think [Trump] did a lot of good things for our country, but we need to go a different direction."
Hutchinson told Axios in a statement Monday he believes in being a problem solver, "not a chaos creator," and that's the difference between him and Trump.
- "My message and my direction is that we can accomplish effective, conservative policy that helps Americans without the theatrics and chaos," the statement reads.
Flashback: Just last week, following an interview with Fox News, he told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette he wouldn't rule out a run for president. His conversation with CNN Sunday went a step further.
More from the CNN interview: Hutchinson was critical of Republicans who've changed their opinions about the Jan. 6 insurrection.
- "We had one message after January 6 among many of our leaders, recognizing the problem with the insurrection. And that tone has changed. And I believe that that's an error. I don't think we can diminish what happened on January 6."
Yes, and: The governor said Florida's law that prohibits teaching sexual orientation or gender identity to K-3 students is "common sense." But he disagreed with Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis' move to revoke Disney's self-governing status over its pushback against the law.
- "I don't believe that government should be punitive against private businesses because we disagree with them," Hutchinson said. "That's not the right approach either. And so, to me, that's the old Republican principle of having a restrained government."