Asa Hutchinson Drops Out Of GOP Presidential Race

Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson has ceased his campaign to be the Republican nominee for president, The Associated Press reported Tuesday.

Hutchinson stood out on the campaign trail as one of the few GOP candidates to firmly rebuke former President Donald Trump, the race’s front-runner. He spoke out against the Republican National Committee’s debate stage requirement that candidates vow to support whomever becomes the party’s nominee, stating he could not endorse Trump if he’s convicted on federal charges.

Though Hutchinson ultimately signed the pledge, he and fellow candidate Chris Christie were the only ones at the first GOP debate not to raise their hands when asked if they’d support Trump as the nominee if he’s found guilty on any of the dozens of charges on which he’s been indicted.

He also slammed his fellow candidates for pledging to pardon Trump if elected.

“I think that anybody who promises pardons during the presidential campaign is not serving our system of justice well, and it’s inappropriate,” Hutchinson told <a href=«https://twitter.com/FaceTheNation/status/1685704822178168832?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1685704822178168832%7Ctwgr%5E71896dd485edb8ac45de0cfe3f131daa70797cd6%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.huffpost.com%2Fentry%2Fasa-hutchinson-trump-pardon_n_64c79288e4b03ad2b89995d5» target="_blank" role=«link» class=" js-entry-link cet-external-link" data-vars-item-name=«CBS’s “Face the Nation”» data-vars-item-type=«text» data-vars-unit-name=«654522a8e4b06bc01e2416ac» data-vars-unit-type=«buzz_body» data-vars-target-content-id=«https://twitter.com/FaceTheNation/status/1685704822178168832?ref_src=» https: data-vars-target-content-type=«url»