Asa Hutchinson lashed out on Sunday at Donald Trump for being ‘divisive’ after the former president attacked several Republican leaders during a GOP fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago.
During the Saturday fundraiser, Trump said he was ‘disappointed’ in his former Vice President Mike Pence and claimed Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell is a ‘dumb son of a bitch.’
Hutchinson, the Republican governor of Arkansas, told CNN’s ‘State of the Union’ host Jake Tapper: ‘Well, anything that is divisive is a concern and is not helpful for us fighting in the battles in Washington and at the state level.’
‘In some ways, it’s not a big deal what he said, but at the same time whenever it draws attention, we don’t need that,’ he continued.
‘We need unity. We need to be focused together,’ he added. ‘We have slim majorities or slim numbers in Washington and we got battles to fight. So we need to get beyond that.’
Arkansas GOP Gov. Asa Hutchinson says the Republican Party should remind itself: "Let's get back to our principles. Let's stop the personality divisions that we have and focus on, really, the historic role that we've played, which is a voice for smaller government." #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/2VxtlPvGfu
— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) April 11, 2021
This was not the first time Governor Hutchinson attacked President Trump.
Back in February Asa Hutchinson said he wouldn’t support Trump for reelection in 2024.
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson says he wouldn't support former President Trump for reelection in 2024. "We can't let him define us for the future because that would just further divide our country and it would hurt our Republican Party." #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/SKXHfcooGt
— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) February 21, 2021