Republican presidential candidate former Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R-AR) said Friday on CNN’s “The Lead” that his fellow Republicans should not dismiss the unsealed indictment against former President Donald Trump because “it has the ring of seriousness.”
Anchor Jake Tapper said, “Governor, you are calling on Donald Trump to end his campaign in the wake of this second indictment. Why?”
Hutchinson said, “For the good of the country and for the good of the office of presidency. This is unprecedented that we have a former president criminally charged for mishandling classified information, for obstruction of justice. This obviously will be an issue during the campaign. But for the sake of the country, he doesn’t need this distraction. The country doesn’t need this distraction, as well. These are serious charges. I’ve looked at the indictment. You think about it, I actually prosecuted a former president while he was in office for obstruction of justice. I obviously as a former federal prosecutor take these charges seriously and he’s entitled to his day in court, presumption of innocence but the campaign does not need this distraction. He doesn’t need the distraction of a campaign. And so that’s the reason I say it. Obviously he’s not going to do it. But to me, these are serious charges that merit serious consideration by the public.”
He added, “My message is simply that the Republicans, the leadership in congress and across the country, should not dismiss this indictment as being simply politically motivated because it has the ring of seriousness, it has the ring of professionalism in the indictment, and it should not be lightly dismissed.”
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