04/09/2023
Former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson announced his presidential bid last week. This is an odd move. Thereâs no demand for Hutchinson in the pro-Trump GOP base. Heâll be lucky to net one percent in polls, and he has a reputation for going against his own votersâ interests [Asa Hutchinsonâs Low-Key, Long-Shot Route to the White House, by Susan Milligan, U.S. News, March 30, 2023]. Then again, Hutchinson will campaign as the anti-base candidate, meaning anti-Trump candidate. Itâs aimed at getting Respectability in Washington D.C. â hence his general uselessness on immigration â and among the tiny number of Republicans who think âcivilityâ is the strategy for victory. Hutchinson is arguably the worst possible candidate who will run. His almost certain humiliation will permanently discredit and perhaps even kill the decrepit, dying GOP brand he represents.
Hutchinson was elected Arkansas governor in 2014 and served two terms. He completed his term in January. Prior to that, he was a congressman and served in the George W. Bush administration. But Hutchinson is most proud of being a U.S. Attorney in the 1980s â because it allowed him to prosecute âwhite supremacists.â
On VDARE.comâs signature issues, immigration and the National Question, the former Arkansas governor is useless. Of course, he speaks, blandly, about securing the border [Asa Hutchinson to Newsmax: We Need Border Security Bill, by Nick Koutsobinas, Newsmax, February 8, 2023]. But he actually supports mass immigration.
In 2019, he rejected the Trump Administrationâs offer to allow states to bar refugee resettlement. âArkansans have a history of welcoming refugees,â Hutchinson wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. âWhile we fully support control of our borders and oppose illegal immigration, we also value the contribution of immigrants and understand the importance of America continuing to be a welcoming nation for those truly seeking refuge and following the legal path to our landâ [Gov. Hutchinson agrees to allow refugees into Arkansas, THV11, December 23, 2019].
In 2021, he welcomed poorly vetted Afghan refugees to his state. âArkansas understands the American responsibility toward those families, those brave people that supported the United States of America in its mission,â he told reporters. âArkansas would welcome them as part of the other states that are welcoming those that need a place of refugeâ [Arkansas open to refugees from Afghanistan, governor says, by Adam Roberts, KHBS, August 19, 2021].
Whatever Arkansans think about flooding the state with Afghans, importing refugees is a key part of Hutchinsonâs 2024 pitch. After all, they âlove freedom and love America.â He also believes Treason Lobby refugee policies establish Americaâs âglobal leadershipâ [Why Asa Hutchinsonâs view of the world isnât working for Republicans, by Alexander Ward, Politico, March 30, 2023].
It should be noted that Hutchinsonâs son, Asa Hutchinson III, operates a law firm that specializes in immigration law. That might just explain the former governorâs immigration boosterism.
Hutchinsonâs son aside, after reading his views on immigrants and immigrants, you donât need to be psychic to know his thinking on other issues that explains his pride in âtackling hateâ and obsession with âwhite supremacy.â
The highlight of his career as a federal prosecutor, he says, was targeting a crazy Christian Identity group called the Covenant, the Sword, and the Arm of the Lord. Hutchinson delivered the wrath of the mighty power he represented. An FBIâstate police siege on their compound ended in a peaceful surrender of the groupâs leaders. Hutchinson sent the leaders to jail and the group died afterwards [Asa Hutchinson: A Distinguished Career in Domestic Counterterrorism, by Jacob Ware, Council on Foreign Relations, April 3, 2023].
Hutchinson incessantly cites this case to burnish his anti-hate, pro-âequalityâ credentials:
Nearly forty years ago, I joined a band of hundreds of good people who linked arms to confront those who believed violence and racial hatred were the answer to their anger. Sometimes I fear we are not moving fast enough toward an America that is truly equal. But we are making progress as long as we listen to each other and care about each other.
[Governor addresses standing against hate, KTLO, April 24, 2022]
Why the existence of a crazed group of weirdos forty years ago means âwe are not moving fast enough toward an America that is truly equalâ is a mystery, but in contrast even meeting with Official Undesirables is off limits. Thus Hutchinson condemned Donald Trumpâs meeting with Nick Fuentes and Kanye West for empowering âracistsâ [Arkansas GOP governor says Trumpâs meeting with Holocaust denier is âvery troublingâ and âempoweringâ for extremism, by Devan Cole, CNN, November 28, 2022]. Earlier, after the 2019 mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, he said he had seen the âevil of white supremacyâ and declared America has a âwhite nationalist problemâ [Gov. Asa Hutchinson speaks out about âevil of white supremacyâ in El Paso shooting, THV11, August 4, 2019].
In other words, âwhite supremacyâ is a particular obsession:
Hutchinsonâs response to the death of St. George of Fentanyl and the ensuing nationwide Floyd Hoax Riots was equally cucked:
The death of George Floyd is such a landmark site in America, and itâs troubling to anybody who appreciates law enforcement and their role in public safety. To see the death in such a way that George Floyd is crying out, âI canât breathe, I canât breathe,â you understand the outrage that the American people feel, the outrage that I feel, the disappointment that we have in law enforcement officers who are sworn to uphold the law, and yet, they cross every line and abuse the system. They donât honor the system. They donât honor the rule of law and justice âŚ
[Gov. Hutchinson on George Floyd killing: âI understand the outrage, the disappointment, the fear, and the distrust,â by Roby Brock, Talk Business & Politics, June 1, 2020]
When riots broke out in Little Rock, Hutchinson met with local Black Lives Matter leaders. âTheyâre clearly outraged and frustrated and angered, and thatâs understandable and itâs important to hear them out,â he said at the time. âAnd part of it is what they see as a criminal justice system that disproportionately goes after minorities.â America doesnât offer enough opportunities to minorities, he said, which is why the rioters were so âfrustratedâ [Gov. Hutchinson meeting with protest participants to explore solutions, Talk Business & Politics, June 3, 2020]. The grievances of âwhite nationalistsâ make them terrorists, but the grievances of BLM rioters deserve a hearing.
Hutchinson also supports eliminating Confederate heritage. In 2020, he said it was time for his state to relocate the Capitolâs Confederate statues [Gov. Hutchinson appears to support removal of Confederate statuesfrom state Capitol, by Max Brantley, Arkansas Times, June 28, 2020]. He signed legislation to remove his stateâs two statues from the U.S. Capitol â Arkansas Governor and U.S. Senator James P. Clarke, a âwhite supremacist,â and lawyer Uriah Rose, who supported the Confederacy (and helped found the American Bar Association â maybe thatâs reason to remove him). Hutchinson disingenuously claimed the change was made âto update the statues with representatives of our more recent historyâ [Johnny Cash to replace Confederate statue on Capitol Hill, by Colby Itkowitz, Washington Post, April 17, 2019]. Right.
He also backed changing the meaning of a star in the Arkansas flag from honoring Confederates to honoring Indians. âI think itâs the right thing to do,â he said. But he couldnât leave it at that, of course:
I donât know that we need to recognize Arkansas in a state of rebellion. I think weâd be better off recognizing those nations, from the Indian tribes to others. âŚ
Whenever you see the hurt it brings to a significant part of our population, I donât think itâs worth it.
I think you ought to strive as a state to remove that hurt and this seems like a reasonable approach to that.
[Arkansas governor backs removing Confederate link to flag, by Andrew DeMillo, Associated Press, March 4, 2019]
Hutchinson also pushed âCriminal Justice Reform,â leftist code for permitting criminals, particularly black criminals, to run amok. He even bragged about releasing the âmentally illâ from state prisons. But visitors to any major city know that way too many deranged, violent people are roaming the streets [Reduce mental illnessin criminal justice system with treatment, not incarceration, by Asa Hutchinson, Fox News, August 22, 2018].
Even worse for Hutchinsonâs prospects, heâs a detested figure to the GOP base for his squishiness on social issues. In 2021, he infamously vetoed a bill that would have banned transgender surgery for minors. Of course, conservatives were furious [In Post-Trump GOP Split, Gov. Asa Hutchinson Often At Odds With His Party, by Daniel Breen, NPR, May 7, 2021]. In 2015, he helped neuter a religious freedom law in the state so it wouldnât upset the âLGBTâ lobby [Arkansas governor signs amended âreligious freedomâ measure, by Eric Bradner, CNN, April 2, 2015]. And he says he regrets signing an abortion ban that does not allow exceptions for rape and incest, which wonât go over well with hardliners on that issue [Arkansas Gov. Hutchinson laments lack of exceptions for rape, incest in abortion ban, by Julia Shapero, Axios, June 26, 2022].
So the only enemies Hutchinson seems eager to fight are âwhite supremacists,â whatever he means by that term. On every other issue, he caves.
The good news: Hutchinson has little shot of winning the nomination. He has no constituency. And he further hurt himself when he told Trump to withdraw from the race after a grand jury in Manhattan indicted the former president on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records [Asa Hutchinson announces presidential bid, says Trump should withdraw from race, by Kelly Garrity, Politico, April 2, 2023]. That wonât sit well with the vast majority of GOP voters who (rightly) see the criminal charges as politically motivated.
Hutchinsonâs lack of charisma and a strong reason to run further compound his problems. Born in 1950, he would be 74 in 2024, and unlikely to serve two terms if elected. in He doesnât have an issue that sets him apart from the field besides his blandness and unwillingness to fight for conservative causes.
Hutchinson represents the worst of the old, Ruling Class establishment. Heâs a boring politician who bends over backward not to offend leftists even as he betrays his own people. He reveres Black Lives Matter more than his own ancestors. He freed criminals and wants refugees to overrun his own state and people. He is terrible for the Republican Party and terrible for America.
Watching him lose in embarrassing fashion, and take his wing of the party down with him, will be a gift for all immigration patriots and America patriots.
Washington Watcher II is an anonymous DC insider.