Former Gov. Asa Hutchinson is making the first few stops of his budding presidential campaign in the Midwest this week.
After much speculation, Hutchinson announced he was seeking the Republican presidential nomination earlier this month. Speaking at a Veterans of Foreign Wars meeting in Des Moines, Iowa Thursday, the former governor reiterated his claim that the national GOP should seek to distance itself from former President Donald Trump.
“I’m running for president because we need a course correction in our country. I’ll just tell you very frankly, we need a course correction in the Republican Party as well,” Hutchinson said. “We need a Republican Party, and have a nominee that can win with independents, that can win with suburban voters in the fall and win in November.”
As governor, Hutchinson sought to brand himself as a moderate Republican, focused more on issues of fiscal conservatism rather than more hot-button “culture war” topics. In Thursday’s event, he briefly slammed the Biden Administration’s policies surrounding border security, government spending and energy production.
“You look at the leftist, progressive social agenda of this administration, whether it is having corporations be more ‘woke’ and where they are trying to emphasize green more than investments that will make more money for their retirees… that is a push that is coming from Washington,” he said.
The former governor accused the federal government of sending too much money to states, and said one of his first moves as president would be to repeal a number of President Joe Biden’s executive orders. When asked how he plans to distinguish himself from other candidates seeking the Republican presidential nomination, Hutchinson said he hopes to connect with voters on a personal level.
“I have a unique part of the American story and I want people to get to know that, and I think whenever they see that they’ll say ‘This is someone that’s not only got a consistent conservative record, has got an optimistic view of our future as a country, but he’s also lived a lot of the life experiences that the average Iowan has.’”
Hutchinson joins former President Donald Trump, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and businessman Perry Johnson in seeking the GOP nomination for president. When asked about foreign policy, Hutchinson said he supports the U.S. aiding Ukraine in its war against Russia. But, he said he would seek to limit aid for nations he deems as unfriendly.
“We’ve got Brazil that is aligning with China, is aligning with Russia, they’re not aligning with the United States of America. I’m not for helping them out,” he said. “I think that you have to distinguish our friends from those that oppose us, and not simply… say, ‘Whether you’re our friend or foe, we’re going to support you in some fashion.’”
Hutchinson also stressed the importance of military funding and equipment, and was joined at Thursday’s event by Col. Nate Todd, former secretary of the Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs.
Also on Thursday, Hutchinson attended an event alongside Republican Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds focusing on the fentanyl crisis in the region. Hutchinson on Friday is set to attend a breakfast meeting with conservative boosters in the suburban city of Ankeny, Iowa, then will travel to the annual meeting of the National Rifle Association in Indianapolis. He then plans to make additional stops in Kentucky and Nashville, Tenn.
The former governor says he plans to formally announce his candidacy for president in Bentonville on April 26.
Iowa Public Radio's Clay Masters contributed to this report.
