'This Week' Transcript 1-1-23: Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Rep.-elect Max Frost
A rush transcript of "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" airing on Sunday, January 1, 2023 on ABC News is below. This copy may not be in its final form, may be updated and may contain minor transcription errors. For previous show transcripts, visit the "This Week" transcript archive.
JONATHAN KARL, ABC "THIS WEEK" ANCHOR: One of those Republicans is Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, who is set to leave office later this month. He joins us now from Little Rock.
Good morning, Governor. Thank you for being here and Happy New Year.
GOV. ASA HUTCHINSON, (R) ARKANSAS: Good morning to you. And Happy New Year to you as well.
KARL: So, I want to – I know you’re thinking about a run for president. I want to get to that.
But, first, it’s been six weeks since Donald Trump announced, and it’s been – it’s been quite a six weeks. He had dinner with an anti-Semite and a white supremacist. His tax returns have been released showing that he was awash in debt, losing money, not paying much in taxes, that he tried to trademark – tried to trademark the term “rigged election.” He floated the idea of nullifying part of the Constitution so that he could nullify the 2020 presidential election. And he hasn’t done a single event, at least that I can see, a public event, outside of – of the – outside of Mar-a-Lago.
What is your sense – Donald Trump is – is he, at this point, like some of the polls suggest, actually the frontrunner for the Republican nomination?
HUTCHINSON: Well, I – I think you have to start him out as the frontrunner simply because he’s polling that well. He’s the former president. But as I have said all through 2022, he does not define the Republican Party. And we have to have other voices. And, to me, that’s the key thing for the future. And whenever you look at what’s happened with Donald Trump since he announced that he’s going to run again for president is that you have continued chaos that has surrounded him. He has actually been fairly quiet.
And so it’s – it’s an opportunity for other voices to rise that’s going to be problem solving, common sense conservatives. And they can shape the future of the Republican Party but also provide the right counterbalance to Biden’s failed policies. And, to me, that’s what we have to do in 2023.
KARL: His popularity among Republicans has certainly come down, but it’s still -- he’s still overwhelmingly popular among republican voters.
How does a – how does somebody – how does a fellow Republican challenge him, bring down that – bring down that popularity and beat him among Republican voters in a primary? What’s the key?
HUTCHINSON: Well, first of all, you have to get in there. You have to endure. You have to realize it’s going to be a longer campaign most likely with a number of candidates in there. And then you have to also see that it’s different than 2016 when Donald Trump was new on the national scene. He was somebody that everybody liked. His anger, his – the chaos that he did create. And that’s not a new thing anymore. And so I think people move away from it rather than embrace it.
So, you need to have simply a message that’s authentic to yourself, a message that is problem solving and say, this is what we need to do as a country. And that, to me, is the right contrast. And we have to somehow figure out how to bring people together, both in our parties, which is the biggest challenge for 2023, but also for our nation.
I do think people are ready to be – for a healing time in both Politics but also in our – in our leadership that can work to solve the serious problems that face us from the border, to inflation, to the economy. These are issues that people care about and want leaders to address.
KARL: So, are you going to run?
HUTCHINSON: Well, obviously, I'm going to Iowa later this month. I'm excited about that. But no decision has been made now. And we can’t make a decision until a little bit later.
But I want to be a part of the solutions for America. I want to showcase that there – you can have leaders that address problems and offer solutions and ideas. That’s why we had the Ideas Summit this year, to focus on problem solving. And that’s the kind of – what I want to offer this coming year.
KARL: So, if Trump does become the Republican nominee again, will you vote for him? Will you support him?
HUTCHINSON: Well, I'm going to do everything that we can to make sure there’s alternatives, that he is not the nominee. And, of course, that’s a – all depends upon who else is out there.
But I do not believe that Donald Trump should be the next president of the United States. I think he’s had his opportunity there. I think January 6th really disqualifies him for the future. And so we move beyond that. And that’s what I'm going to be focused on.
KARL: So – so if – if January 6th disqualifies him, if you’re going to do everything you can to be sure he’s not president again, will you not support him if he is the Republican nominee? Just a simple question. Will you say, look, I’ll write in another Republican. You don’t have to support a Democrat. You can write in another Republican. That’s what Larry Hogan’s done twice. Will you say, I'm not going to support him no matter what?
HUTCHINSON: Well, I want to see what the alternatives are. And it’s premature, Jonathan, to get into what might happen in 2024. That issue will come up. But I want to see everything I can do to make sure there is the alternative, and that Donald Trump is not the nominee of the party. That’s the first thing. And let’s figure out how to do that.
KARL: Well, let me ask you, there’s been talk that the Republican National Committee may say that to – to be in a presidential debate in 2024 – for 2024, to even be on the stage, you must commit to supporting the eventual nominee. Do you think that would be a mistake? I mean it would – it would effectively tie everybody on that stage to supporting Trump if he wins.
HUTCHINSON: Well, I think it would be a mistake to do that. You know, there’s – I mean I think it’s obvious that you’ve got a divided party in the sense that you’ve got a base of loyal Trump supporters, but you’ve got a – a – what to me is even a larger majority of those that says we want to go a different direction. And so let’s not put up obstacles to, one, unifying the party, but, secondly, given every chance that another candidate can have to showcase their skills and leadership capability and – and – and to minimize the – the chase that Trump is going to be the eventual nominee simply because the rules are creating that kind of environment, I think you have to avoid that.
KARL: OK. Hey, we’re really out of time, but you’re a former member of the House. I have to ask you, what should they do about Representative-elect Santos who has lied about his entire background? Should the ethics committee consider expelling him?
HUTCHINSON: There has to be accountability for that. That is unacceptable. You know, if – I don’t know whether you can go so far as to not seat him, but certainly the ethics committee should deal with this and he has to be held accountable for that. That’s unacceptable in Politics. It – it breaches the trust between the electorate and their elected official. But it’s – it’s in – and we have to have more integrity in our political environment, in our elected leaders, and this destroys that confidence and undermines the integrity that’s needed.
KARL: All right, Governor Hutchinson, thank you very much for joining us. And, again, Happy New Year.
HUTCHINSON: Thank you, Jonathan.
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