Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) on Sunday once again avoided answering definitively if he’ll run for president in 2024.
Hutchinson lauded former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, who announced Sunday that he wouldn’t seek a 2024 bid, for promises to fight within the party for alternatives to former President Trump, who kicked off his 2024 campaign in November.
“So you think more voices speaking out against Donald Trump is the right way to go? Are you going to run?” anchor Dana Bash asked on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“March is a message month. I want to continue to talk about having a consistent conservative message out there. We need to have all alternatives, again, to Donald Trump. We don’t need to be led by arrogance and revenge in the future. We need to be led by those that are problem solving, that want to stick with the principles of our party and unite us together,” Hutchinson said.
“And so that’s the message in March. April is a decision time. So we will stick with that plan.”
The former Arkansas governor said that he’s not worried too many Republicans running could help Trump secure the GOP nomination and stressed that “more voices now that provide alternative messages and problem solving and ideas is good” for the GOP.
“Well, this is not 2016. Donald Trump is a known quantity. He makes his message of revenge clear. And it’s different,” Hutchinson said.
“For example, the evangelical community, the evangelical community is going to be a key part of the race in 2024, both primary and general election. They were key in ’16. But they are convinced that we need to have a different type of leadership in the future. It should not be someone that’s going to appeal to the worst instincts of our country,” Hutchinson said.
“And so in the early stages, multiple candidates that have an alternative vision to what the former president has is good for our party, good for the debate, go ahead for the upcoming debate that will be in August,” he said, adding that the field will “probably narrow fairly quickly.”
Hutchinson knocked Trump’s remarks at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday, saying the former president touted “personal vendettas” that aren’t “healthy” for the country or the GOP.
“It’s troubling. First of all, if you want to heal our land, unite our country together, you don’t do it by appealing to the angry mob. And that’s true whether you’re talking about an angry mob from the left or the right,” Hutchinson said.