Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) is weighing a bid for the White House in 2024 regardless of former President Donald Trump‘s decision to run for reelection.
“You’ve got to get through, of course, this year. But that’s an option that’s on the table,” Hutchinson said on CNN’s State of the Union when asked if he was considering a presidential run.
“I’ve made it clear: I think we ought to have a different direction in the future,” he added after being pressed about a potential Trump bid. “I think he did a lot of good things for our country, but we need to go a different direction.”
Last year, Hutchinson said that Trump would not have his support should he run in 2024. Trump has hinted at a possible run at recent events but has not yet officially declared his candidacy.
Hutchinson, who is term-limited as governor, also distanced himself from another probable GOP candidate, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, saying that while he does agree with him on the Parent Rights In Education Act, he believes that DeSantis’ newly passed bill that penalizes Disney for opposing Florida’s LGBTQ restrictions is poor public policy.
“I don’t believe that government should be punitive against private businesses because we disagree with them,” Hutchinson said. “To me, that’s the old Republican principle of having a restrained government.”
Hutchinson is known as someone who has gone against his own party multiple times but is still unwavering in other key Republican beliefs.
