Governor Asa Hutchinson (R-AK) said Monday on ABC’s “The View” said former President Donald Trump should not be the leader of the Republican Party.
Co-host Joy Behar asked, “Liz Cheney was removed from Republican leadership by an overwhelming vote in the House last week. You were a vocal defender of hers, saying she shouldn’t be ousted. Kevin McCarthy insists the GOP is a big tent party that email embraces free thought and debate. When you see what happened to Liz Cheney, what does that say to you as who has a place in the Republican Party? Do you question your own place there now?
Hutchinson said, “No, I don’t question my place in the Republican Party. I’ve been fighting for the Republican Party for over 40 years, which dates me a little bit.”
He continued, “In terms of Liz Cheney, I know they did not want to have somebody outside the tent always talking about the election of January 6, but the fact is everyone in America sees this as a punitive measure for someone speaking their conscience, and that’s not good. Secondly, it looks like the former president is directing who can serve in leadership, and that’s not good.”
Hutchinson added, “There’s multiple voices that represent the Republican Party today. We should not de facto make the former president as the guardian of our party or the leader of our party. There’s many different voices out there. I want to be one. Liz Cheney is certainly one. So we need to be united in the next election. We need to win in 2022, and to do that, we have to come together, and we have to come together around principles and not simply a personality.”
Behar said, “Seventy percent of Republicans believe the lie that Joe Biden did not win the election. How can you say that it’s still the Republican Party? You believe it, don’t you? Do you believe that Biden won the election?”
Hutchinson said, “Absolutely Biden won the election. Trump lost the election. In terms of, yes, in Arkansas, yes, you have the majority of Arkansans still supportive of President Trump. They like what he did in office. Regretfully many of them believe what has been said that the election was stolen. The election was not stolen.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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