State of the Union: Interview with Asa Hutchinson
Interview
"The answer, Kasie, is yes, I will be on the stage.
I'm pleased to announce that we have met all the criteria that the RNC set to be on the debate stage. We have met the polling criteria. And now we have met the 40,000 individual donor criteria. We have submitted to the RNC 42,000 individual donors. And I'm delighted and thank everybody for helping me to make this threshold.
The debate is going to be exciting and very important. As I have been in Iowa, people are waiting to make decisions. And the debate will be an important part of how they factor in who's going to be our next nominee.
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I will sign the pledge. I'm confident that Donald Trump is not going to be the nominee of the party. And I have always supported the nominee.
So, I'm going to sign the pledge and be on there. And it's really fascinating that now we have a number of legal scholars...
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I'm going to support the nominee of the party. I do not expect it to be Donald Trump. And that, I'm sure, question will come up in the debate, so stay tuned for that.
But what I want to point out is, I'm not even sure he's qualified to be the next president of the United States. And so you can't be asking us to support somebody that's not perhaps even qualified under our Constitution.
And I'm referring to the 14th Amendment, that a number of legal scholars said that he is disqualified because of his actions on January 6.
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No, there should be a court declaration.
And so there would have to be a separate lawsuit that would be filed in which there would be a finding that the former president engaged in insurrection, and that would disqualify him. That's one avenue. The other way would be that, if a specific state made that determination their own, then that would put the burden on someone else challenging that.
Either way, it winds up in court for a specific finding. But I expect those lawsuits to be filed. I expect some states to take that action. But I think it's a serious jeopardy for Donald Trump under our Constitution and not being qualified.
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Well, I expect it to be even more important without Donald Trump on the stage, because this is the first time voters are going to be able to contrast the candidates and their positions.
And I know we want it to be civil, but let me tell you, it's going to be a vigorous exchange. And it's important, because there's difference between the candidates. Donald Trump will be in the background, because every candidate needs to state what their position is on Donald Trump, whether he -- and his actions on January 6 and talk about the differences for our future.
He has a very isolationist view of the United States of America, wanting to give Russia a victory in Ukraine. That's not where I am. And that will be made clear on the debate stage as well.
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Well, I don't see that happening.
First of all, it's really early. I mean, I talk to voters in Iowa and New Hampshire, and they're going to be late-deciding. And that's why you're going to see in Iowa where Trump's numbers come down first. It will be here in Iowa, in my prediction.
And so they need time. This debate is important, and they're going to start making decisions later into the fall. This is really a reduced number from 2016, with eight or nine on the debate stage. We will see who else qualifies for it, but the voters are going to be able to lock in on it, make decisions. And they're not going to be in a hurry to move.
So, everybody needs to be patient, including the media, as to let this unfold over the next three or four months, and the right alternative to Donald Trump will surface.
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Thank you. Great to be with you today.
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