Asa Hutchinson 2024 presidential campaign

Hutchinson did not qualify for the second Republican debate, falling short of the polling requirement of having at least three percent of the vote in three reputable polls. Despite this, Hutchinson stated that he will not drop out, and instead gave himself the goal of consistently polling at four percent before Thanksgiving; he indicated that if he did not reach that self-set goal, then he would drop out of the race.[8][9]

In lieu of the second debate, Hutchinson had a press conference where he outlined some of his key points. Addressing his absence as “You got to think of it as a bye week in the NFL. You don't play every weekend. You know, necessarily participate in every debate." and went on to elaborate on how he plans on increasing US manufacturing jobs and increasing energy independence.[10]

Under Hutchinson, Arkansas resumed executions in 2017 after having executed no one since 2005.[11][12][13]

Hutchinson demanded that Republicans who tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election and spread Trump's "Big Lie" about the election not be put in positions of leadership. He also accused Trump of dividing the party and said his election conspiracies were "recipe for disaster". On February 5, 2022, Hutchinson and U.S. senator Lisa Murkowski condemned the Republican National Committee's censure of representatives Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney for their support of and participation on the House Select Committee tasked with investigating the January 6 United States Capitol attack.

Following the federal indictment of Donald Trump in June 2023, Hutchinson called on Trump to drop out of the presidential race.[14]

As governor of Arkansas, February 2019, Hutchinson signed a bill into law that would criminalize abortion in the event Roe v. Wade is overturned.[15] On March 9, 2021, he signed SB6, a near-total abortion ban, into law. He said that the bill was intended "to set the stage for the Supreme Court overturning current case law. I would have preferred the legislation to include the exceptions for rape and incest, which has been my consistent view, and such exceptions would increase the chances for a review by the U.S. Supreme Court."[16] On May 8, 2022, Hutchinson responded to comments by Senator Minority Leader Mitch McConnell about potential passage of a future federal law prohibiting abortions nationwide: "If the court reverses Roe v. Wade, they're saying that the Constitution does not provide that, which returns it to the states. And that's where the vigorous debate is going to be. That is where we're going to face a lot of concerns on the compassion side."[17]

On November 16, 2015, Hutchinson said that he would block all Syrian refugees from entering the state in response to the November 2015 Paris attacks.[18]

In 2015, Hutchinson signed into law legislation that would prohibit localities from extending civil rights protections to LGBT individuals.[19] At the time, Arkansas was among states that allowed discrimination in the workplace, housing and business on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation.[20] In March 2021, Hutchinson signed into law legislation that would allow doctors to refuse non-emergency medical treatment to LGBT people based on moral objection.[21] In April 2021, he vetoed a bill that would make it illegal for transgender minors to receive gender-affirming medication or surgery,[22] calling it "a vast government overreach".[23] The state legislature later overrode his veto.[24]

As governor, Hutchinson implemented work requirements for Medicaid enrollees. As a result, by December 2018, almost 17,000 Arkansans had lost their Medicaid health insurance, with reapplication available in the new calendar year.[25]

In August 2021, Hutchinson signed bills into law that prohibited businesses and government facilities from requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination for staff and customers to enter facilities.[26] While Arkansas was experiencing a wave of COVID-19 cases, he also signed a bill into law that prohibited state and local officials from enacting mask mandates.[27] He later said he regretted doing so.[27] In December 2021, Hutchinson praised President Joe Biden's COVID policies and thanked Biden for his efforts to "get the vaccinations out" and "depoliticizing" the federal COVID response.[28][29] In January 2022, however, Hutchinson encouraged large businesses to not comply with the Biden administration's vaccine requirements.[30]