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Former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson has acknowledged that a "gap" exists between him and Donald Trump on the day that a new poll showed him trailing the former president.
Hutchinson attended events in Iowa on Monday as part of his recently announced bid for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination—Iowa will hold its first-in-the-nation Republican caucus on February 5, 2024 as part of the primaries—and Hutchinson has another event there on Tuesday.
While several Republicans other than Trump have so far entered the contest for the nomination, Hutchinson has been particularly vocal in his criticism of the former president and previously said Trump should drop out of the race.
The former governor appeared to acknowledge the fact that Trump continues to be the favorite among potential GOP primary voters in a slew of recent polls.
"There is certainly a gap between myself and Donald Trump, who's right now leading the ticket on the Republican side. But that's why you have campaigns, that's why you have choices, that's why I'm able to talk about the economy," Hutchinson said on Monday.
Those comments came on the same day that a new CBS News/YouGov poll was published showing Hutchinson with 1 percent support among likely voters in a hypothetical Republican primary.
By contrast, Trump was at 58 percent among likely GOP primary voters, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis garnered 22 percent and several other potential Trump rivals had support in single digits.
Former Vice President Mike Pence had 5 percent support, biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy also had 5 percent while former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley garnered 4 percent.
Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and conservative radio host Larry Elder each had 2 percent support, while Hutchinson was tied with Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina at 1 percent.
The CBS News/YouGov poll was conducted from April 27 to 29 among likely GOP voters and had a margin of error of plus/minus 5.4 points .
Not all the candidates in the CBS News poll have formally entered the race. Governor DeSantis and former Vice President Pence are expected to do so, while Senator Scott has said he will be making a "major announcement" in North Charleston, South Carolina, on May 22.
Scott recently formed an exploratory committee—an important step in a potential presidential bid.
During an interview with ABC News' This Week in April, Hutchinson was asked of he believed Trump should drop out of the race for president if he was indicted and responded: "Well, I do. And for a couple reasons."
"I mean, first of all, the office is more important than any individual person. And so for the sake of the office of the presidency, I do think that's too much of a sideshow and distraction, and he needs to be able to concentrate on his due process, and there is a presumption of innocence," the former governor said.
"But the second reason is, throughout my eight years as governor and as a political leader, I've always said that people don't have to step aside from public office if they're under investigation, but if it reaches the point of criminal charges that have to be answered, the office is always more important than a person," Hutchinson went on.
"And so there's some consistency there. I do believe if—if we're looking at the presidency and the future of our country, then we don't need that distraction and he needs to be able to concentrate on the legal issues that he faces," he added.
Trump was indicted in Manhattan on March 30 and he pleaded not guilty to 34 charges related to his alleged hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016. The next in-person hearing is set for December 2023.
Newsweek has reached out to the Hutchinson campaign via email for comment.
About the writer
Darragh Roche is a U.S. News Reporter based in Limerick, Ireland. His focus is reporting on U.S. politics. He has ... Read more