Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R), who had previously supported Donald Trump‘s reelection bid, said Sunday that he would not back the former president if he decided to run again in 2024.
When asked if he would support Trump in another presidential election cycle, Hutchinson said, “No, I wouldn’t. It’s time.”
“And he’s got a good family. I worked with Ivanka (Trump) and others, and they love America. But I would not support him for reelection in 2024,” he continued.
The GOP is facing deep divisions on how to move forward as a party in the post-Trump era. Hutchinson said that Trump would continue to have a voice in the Republican Party, but the former president “should not define our future.”
“We’ve got to define it for ourselves and that has to be based upon the principles that gave really us the strength in America. We’ve got to respond and identify with the issues that gave him the first election and gave him support throughout the presidency,” he said. “He’ll only define the party if we let him define our party.”
Trump is set to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida, next Sunday. Former Vice President Mike Pence declined an invitation to speak. This conference would be Trump’s first public appearance following his departure from the White House last month and comes as senior Republicans are divided over how to treat the former President.
State Sen. Jim Hendren (R-Arkansas), Hutchinson’s nephew, said last month’s deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol proved to be the “last straw” in his decision to leave the Republican Party.
Hutchinson called his nephew’s decision “a warning sign” for the Republican Party.
“It saddens me and it’s certainly a warning sign to us that there is many out there that would like to see a more civil dialogue and so I have tremendous respect for his – what he announced or what he’s thinking there,” the governor said. “We’re going to work for a mutual goal in different ways.”
