Condoleezza Rice to Headline Event for Asa Hutchinson as Arkansas Governor Teases 2024 Presidential Bid
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Former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice is set to headline an event hosted by Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson, who has repeatedly said he is considering a run for president in 2024.
Rice will give a keynote speech at Hutchinson’s America Leads: An Ideas Summit event on October 19 in Bentonville.
“I worked with Secretary Rice in the Bush administration and her views on national security issues are essential with the current threats across the globe. In addition to the foreign policy discussions, the summit will hear from leading experts on the economy, education and many other challenges facing our country,” Hutchinson said in announcing Rice’s appearance at the event.
Hutchinson’s attention to national and global issues comes as little surprise given that the governor, who is unable to run for a third term under state law, has said over the past several months that he is eyeing a run for president.
In May, Hutchinson said he was considering a run and that his decision would not be impacted by whether former president Donald Trump chooses to run. He told CNN’s State of the Union at the time that the national GOP should move on from Trump, including the candidates he is endorsing in the midterms and the “direction he wants to take our country.”
Asked then if he was considering a presidential run, Hutchinson said: “I am. But you have got to get through, of course, this year, but that’s an option that’s on the table.”
In August, Hutchinson again criticized Trump and suggested he may run for president. During an interview with the Washington Post, he said Trump is “divisive.”
“We’re going to do well, I have no doubt about that,” Hutchinson said of the GOP in the midterm elections. “But we lose ground whenever Donald Trump becomes the issue.”
Hutchinson told the paper that Trump’s behavior during the January 6 Capitol riots is disqualifying.
“This should be a concern of every American,” he said. “We had a president during that time that allowed that to go on and threatened the peaceful transfer of power.”
Of his own possible presidential bid, he said: “Obviously, I’m thinking about it,” but said he didn’t plan to make a decision until “next January.”
Other potential 2024 GOP contenders include Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley, former vice president Mike Pence and former secretary of state Mike Pompeo.
