Several Republican politicians have become more forthright of their desire to run in 2024 as they sense Trump’s control over the party is weakening.
Several Republican politicians have become more forthright of their desire to run in 2024 as they sense Trump’s control over the party is weakening.
Most recently, Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson said he is contemplating a 2024 bid and wants the party to show more independence from former President Donald Trump.
Speaking to reporters at the Wall Street Journal, Hutchinson said, “The next presidential campaign will define the future of our party and we will be in a state of flux until then. There’s a significant amount of our base that is happy with an off-ramp from the Trump train.”
He said he intends to travel to Iowa later this year, where Republicans will host their first nominating contest. He has already given a speech in New Hampshire, where the second nominating contest will take place.
Fellow Arkansan, Senator Tom Cotton, has also made his ambitions clear in taking several trips to Iowa this past year. Other potential candidates who seek to move on from Trump include Maryland Governor Larry Hogan and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
Though they’re not willing to wait for Trump to make his decision, nor step back once he does, some of these candidates are not inclined to throw Trump under the bus in their quest to take his reins.
“I think Liz Cheney has been too consistently harsh,” Hutchinson said of the Wyoming congresswoman who loathes Trump’s position in the party. “I don’t want to be in that category. I want to be where I recognize the good things Donald Trump did in a lot of different areas—I could give you a long laundry list of that, and I don’t hesitate to talk about that—but this is too important to be shy about the future of the party.”