Asa Hutchinson, a former governor of Arkansas, officially declared his bid for the presidency in 2024 on Wednesday. He described his platform and attacked the Biden administration in a number of ways, promising to “get the economy back on track” if elected.
The former Republican governor claimed that “the Biden administration has turned its back on the American worker.” We must cease the “break-the-bank” federal spending that has caused high inflation and rising interest rates if we want to turn around our economy.
“Every hard-working American family gets a double hit from the Biden economy,” he continued. “Due to the high interest rates, their wage doesn’t stretch as far, and they have to pay more for their credit card debt and car loans. That’s not right at all.
Hutchinson called the Biden administration’s decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan in 2021 a “disastrous” move that “left our friends abandoned and our allies confused.”
“America looked weak and that weakness was seen as an opportunity for Russia to invade Ukraine and then for China to threaten and be aggressive toward Taiwan,” Hutchinson said. “Let me assure you that as President, I will bring out the best of America . . . we will stand with our allies and friends. We will not abandon our friends in times of need.”
Hutchinson argued that the Biden administration has not been tough enough on crime, accusing it of “a flagrant disrespect for human dignity and the rule of law.”
Although he did not appear to reference former President Donald Trump, who announced his 2024 presidential bid late last year, Hutchinson seemed to eschew the isolationist approach Trump took to foreign policy.
“There are some who want the U.S. to disengage from the world and to isolate ourselves,” he said. “Isolationism only leads to weakness and weakness leads to war. Americans want peace and the best way to secure and preserve peace is to have the most prepared military in the world.”
Hutchinson also appeared to take aim at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is expected to launch a bid for the GOP nomination in the 2024 presidential race.
