(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Ex-Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson announces presidential bid, calls on Trump to drop out of race [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-04-02 Asa Hutchinson Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced in an exclusive ABC News interview aired Sunday that he is running for president and said Donald Trump should drop out of the race. Fat chance of the recently indicted Trump dropping out of the race anytime soon, especially when polls show the former president’s popularity among the Republican base remains strong. A Quinnipiac poll, released on March 29, showed Trump with a 47% to 33% lead over his closest potential rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has yet to announce his candidacy. But Hutchinson does offer an alternative to those remaining Republicans who don’t want Trump or another MAGA candidate like DeSantis. Hutchinson is no moderate, but rather a hard-core conservative, as evidenced in his two terms as Arkansas’ governor from 2015-2023. He was term-limited and succeeded in January by MAGA Republican Sarah Huckabee Sanders. So far the only other prominent Republican to enter the race is former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who hasn’t really gone after Trump except to say she represents a younger generation. x EXCLUSIVE: Former GOP Gov. Asa Hutchinson announces during an interview with @JonKarl that he will be running for president. “I'm convinced that people want leaders that appeal to the best of America and not simply appeal to our worst instincts.” https://t.co/DmytxAAfAL pic.twitter.com/f2lcIBQeqD — This Week (@ThisWeekABC) April 2, 2023 In a sit-down interview with ABC “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl, Hutchinson said: "I have made a decision, and my decision is I'm going to run for president of the United States. While the formal announcement will be later in April, in Bentonville [Arkansas], I want to make it clear to you, Jonathan, I am going to be running. 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." Ahead of Sunday’s announcement, Hutchinson spent several days in Iowa, the state whose caucuses will be the first Republican nominating contest. x We had an absolutely wonderful day yesterday meeting with passionate conservatives about the future of our country and our Party. I have enjoyed my last couple of days in Iowa. You can catch a quick recap of my visit here 👉🏻 https://t.co/Fn48Gz1W62 pic.twitter.com/mppP7qJ2xr — Gov. Asa Hutchinson (@AsaHutchinson) March 29, 2023 Asked by Karl whether he believes Trump should drop out of the presidential race now that he’s been indicted, Hutchinson replied, “I do.” He added: "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." Hutchinson told Karl that Trump’s indictment in the Stormy Daniels hush money case “adds to the unpredictability” of the political environment. Unlike most other prominent Republicans, Hutchinson did not blast Trump’s indictment by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg as purely political. In a statement on March 30, he said, “While the grand jury found credible facts to support the charges, it is important that the presumption of innocence follows Mr. Trump.” Hutchinson told ABC: "I know there's going to be some that say I should be tougher on the prosecutor, I should be tougher on the unfairness of this. I've expressed my view that I wouldn't bring those charges if I was a prosecutor. But let's let the system work. And what I don't want to do as a leader is undermine everything that is good about America, which is our criminal justice system." [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/2/2161649/-Ex-Arkansas-Gov-Asa-Hutchinson-announces-presidential-bid-says-Trump-should-drop-out-of-race Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/