Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) said Sunday that he would not support former President Trump if he ran for the White House again in 2024, pointing to the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
Speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union,” the Republican governor was asked by host Dana Bash if he would vote for Trump should the former president run in 2024.
“No, I wouldn’t. It’s time,” Hutchinson responded.
“He’s going to have a voice … as former presidents do. But there’s many voices in the party,” the governor added. “He should not define our future. We have got to define it for ourself.”
Hutchinson’s statement is one of the strongest from a GOP governor breaking with the former president since the riot.
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) has also voiced his desire for the Republican Party to move on from Trump.
Aside from notable exceptions such as Rep. Liz Cheney (Wyo.), many Republican lawmakers refused to lay the blame on Trump and his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results for the violence that unfolded last month.
Ten House Republicans joined Democrats in voting to impeach Trump over his role in the riot. Seven Republicans voted to convict Trump in his trial in the Senate, where the former president was ultimately acquitted.
Hutchinson was one of the few prominent GOP officials to acknowledge President Biden‘s victory in the days immediately following Trump’s election defeat in November, telling NBC’s “Meet the Press” at the time that he expected Trump “will have a voice for a long time in the party.”
Via The Hill