Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Wednesday formally kicked off his presidential campaign with a speech in Bentonville, Arkansas.
“Today, I am announcing that I am a candidate for president of the United States,” Hutchinson said, as quoted by CNN. “In this campaign for president, I stand alone in terms of my experience, record and leadership.”
Hutchinson announced his bid for the GOP presidential nomination during an interview with ABC News earlier this month. He has been polling in the single digits, while former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has yet to jump into the race but has been actively preparing a campaign, are well ahead of him and the rest of the competition.
Without mentioning Trump by name in Wednesday’s speech, Hutchinson attacked the former president’s “America First” agenda.
“There are some who want the US to disengage from the world and to isolate ourselves,” he said, adding, “isolationism only leads to weakness and weakness leads to war.”
Later, he hit squarely on Trump’s recent calls to defund the FBI.
Hutchinson, whose time as governor ended in January, also touted his efforts to keep Arkansas strong during the COVID-19 pandemic, saying his “mettle was tested” when he faced pressure from Washington to enact COVID restrictions.
“I demonstrated how we can lead through a pandemic without closing down every business and shutting down schools,” he said, according to CNN.
With a thinly veiled swipe at DeSantis, Hutchinson added, “The result was that our businesses survived, and we had more days of in-classroom instruction during the pandemic than almost any other state. Yes, that’s right. We beat Florida and Texas.”
The Republican field which Hutchinson joined also includes Trump, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
In addition to DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence has said he will make a decision “by the spring” about whether to seek the presidency in 2024.
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was also mentioned as a possible contender, but he officially announced last week that he has decided not to run.