Former Governor Refuses To Back Trump or Biden

(LibertyInsider.org) – The 2024 presidential election is just under eight months away, and it is widely expected to be a repeat of 2020, with President Joe Biden and former Commander-in-Chief Donald Trump facing off once again. Many lawmakers are being vocal, throwing their support behind one or the other. However, one former governor has said that he will not back either party.

In an op-ed published in USA Today, former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, who was in the running for the Republican primary nomination, has said he will not endorse Trump. He acknowledges that it’s “a costly and difficult position to take” because of his own role and longstanding place in the GOP. However, he points out that he believes “principle matters, character counts, and civility should be valued.”

My Op-Ed in today’s ⁦⁦@USATODAY⁩ explaining my reasons for being a Republican but not endorsing Donald Trump. https://t.co/PPZiYbbbjf

— Gov. Asa Hutchinson (@AsaHutchinson) March 18, 2024

Hutchinson said that Trump “has put personal ego above the common good” and has changed the GOP to one that supports Russia over Ukraine. The former president himself, according to Hutchinson, has “transfigured conservatism into isolationism” in his efforts to remove the US from NATO. All of these, and more, go against what the Republican Party has stood for over the last 50 years.

The former Arkansas governor is quick to note that he cannot predict the future but notes that Trump’s history should be reason enough to “take heed.” He is of the mind that January 6, 2021, was an insurrection, one that threatened the very fabric of America’s democracy, and Trump’s continued support of it is a problem.

Hutchinson also said he has no plans to vote for Biden, citing a weak economy, ongoing issues with border policy, and slow growth in the energy sector. He ended with his hope that people would push back against Trump’s takeover of the GOP and return to principles Conservatives can get behind for a better future. He left no indication of whether he would vote for a third-party candidate.