CHICAGO – It’s a sight you never expected.
The longtime Republican is making waves at the Democratic National Convention as he runs for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.
But that was the case for Asa Hutchinson, who served two terms as governor of Arkansas.
“I work in the media. I’m not here to endorse a Democratic candidate,” Hutchison said in an interview with Fox News Digital this week. “This is my first Democratic Convention.”
For the latest FOX News updates from the Democratic Convention, click here
On the first night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on August 19, 2024, the United Center was packed as President Biden addressed the crowd. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
But Hutchinson, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination last year, said, “I went down to the chamber to see the Democratic delegation from Arkansas, and I want you to know that no lightning struck and everyone was safe.”
Asked if he felt out of place among so many Democrats, Hutchinson replied, “I guess a little bit, but at the same time, it’s a good reflection of American democracy that I’ve been welcomed so friendly. That’s a good part of politics, being here and being welcomed even if you disagree.”
The former governor has been a vocal Republican critic of former President Trump, who won his party’s nomination by beating Hutchinson and other challengers.
Former President Trump gestures during a campaign rally at the Aviation Museum and Hall of Fame in Asheboro, North Carolina, on August 21, 2024. (Peter Zey/AFP via Getty Images)
When asked how he would vote in the presidential election, Hutchinson said, “I’m going to write in a candidate. A good Republican candidate. It’s important to me to be a Republican and to support the Republican cause.”
But he added, “You have to define it differently than Donald Trump. The rule of law is important to me. I said in the debates that I would not vote for a convicted felon. That still applies.”
The vice president’s big night at the Democratic Convention
Since Vice President Kamala Harris replaced President Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee for 2024 a month ago, Trump has repeatedly attacked her as a far-left politician.
Pointing to Harris’ controversial plan to ban price gouging, Hutchinson said the vice president “needs to win over” independents and disgruntled Republicans to appeal to them. [voters] Her economic policies are not very left-wing and the debate over price controls has hurt her.
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on August 19, 2024. (Jacek Bocharski/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“She needs to make it clear when she talks about her economic policies that she is fighting price gouging, not price controls, which is what attorneys general across the country are doing. She needs to make that clear in her conference speech or somewhere else.”
Click here to get the FOX News app
“If we want to win over independents, swing voters and even Republicans, we have to show economic policies that make sense for America and that don’t scare people,” he said.
Hutchinson, a former federal prosecutor who later served in Congress and Cabinet under President George W. Bush, dropped out of the presidential race in January, a day after finishing sixth in the Iowa caucuses.
Asked if there was another political chapter in his long career, he said: “I hope so.”
“But right now, I really want to teach. I’ll be teaching at the University of Arkansas Law School next semester, and then I’ll do something on a college campus after that,” he said. “I don’t know what the future holds.”
Get the latest 2024 campaign updates, exclusive interviews and more on Fox News Digital’s Election Hub.
