Asa Hutchinson Speaks the Truth to a crowd of MAGA supporters at the Florida GOP's Freedom Summit
By: Asa Hutchinson
As someone who’s been in the courtroom for over 25 years, as a federal prosecutor, and also in defending some of the most serious federal criminal cases, I can say that there is a significant likelihood that Donald Trump will be found guilty by a jury on a felony offense next year.
This certainly illustrates the problem with the GOP today. Asa's speech was well received until he mentioned Trump. Then he was booed and ignored as he attempted to reason with the unreasonable. The crowd would not listen, would not hear, would not even consider the advice Hutchinson tried to provide. They are voting for Trump and there are no facts that will dissuade them.
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They will not listen. There is no reason; just blind following of Trump.
Inexplicably, it will only add fuel to the fire…and tragically, too many would rather see us burned to the ground than accept the consequences of a catastrophic, self-confirmed dictatorial disaster of a term.
Examples of such a self-defeating, self-absorbed mindset are surely to follow…
But, but, but, it's all malicious prosecution!
So this audience is not for the rule of law.
no trumpster lemmings are going to listen to him, he's sane...
Sure, yeah .. okay .. yet that is no reason to quit trying .. there has to be more individuals than Asa Hutchinson and Chris Christie that are willing to step up and take the hit. I have been wanting Nikki Haley to run for president since the removal of the confederate flag in 2015 .. yet now she will not step up to the plate, if I was going to lose to that puke - I would step up to the plate swinging!
Peace....
I agree, I am all for everyone in the GOP working to rid itself of Trump.
The problem with Nikki Haley and DeSantis is that they are both seriously trying to win the nomination. Chris Christie is not, he is running to dissuade people from voting for Trump.
Haley and DeSantis cannot go against Trump because then they will be cast aside as quickly as Liz Cheney and Mitt Romney. They must both play what must be an incredibly difficult game of threading the Trump political needle. The cognitive dissonance must be overwhelming, but they have no choice.
I agree that as soon as they realize they have no chance, they should join Christie and call out Trump in every way. But they will not do that. No matter how much I prefer to not believe it, both would likely accept positions in the Trump administration. Vivek, now, is different. He is not seriously running for PotUS. He is running for the best position he can get in a Trump administration. No doubt his plan is to be the V.P.
The GOP electorate is a confused, naive, deluded mess. They, collectively, are not going to produce a good nominee for the GOP. They are all in for Trump and no facts to the contrary will even pass their skulls much less be considered.
True, yet I 'think' that ultimately taking a swing for the fence could influence a large number of independents.
I do not disagree with you .. but you cannot put Cheney and Romney in the same grouping - yes both have spoken their 'truth' yet Romney was never a true Trump supporter .. Cheney voted rather lock step with Trump .. I get that she voted her conscience on impeachment, and I respect her a great deal .. yet, I am curious if you think her warnings on the talk shows might not be taking on a certain conspiracy vibe? Romney he is cooler, and less emotionally swayed ..
I recall watching Romney having to except the endorsement of Trump in 2012 .. yeah, that did not go well, the tension was intense. So, I think I understand what you are saying about taking Trump on for Haley and DeSantis.
[sigh] I so hoped that the former president would not be the nominee - I believe Haley could have given him a challenge in the primarie .. but now even if DeSantis and Ramaswamy did suspend their campaigns those votes would prob go to Trump..
That 'man' is so transparent and such a puke!
Yep, and the DNC is running only 2 steps behind.
Peace...
They were both cast aside for not holding back against Trump.
I am disgusted with the GOP electorate for collectively lacking the moral character to prevent this.
Within 5 minutes I pegged him as a snake-oil salesman. He keeps reinforcing that first impression.
Our political system is a mess. The parties (both) operate as mindless machines ... following whoever they 'emotionally' think might have the best chance to win. The GOP is far worse (currently) but both disgust me.
True both were cast aside .. bad for 'us' but ultimately prob the best for them.
Without changing the rules, how could the GOP prevent this nightmare waiting to happen from unfolding .. I can see the people in the street now screaming the election was stolen. I am guessing the founders did not ever dream a potential felon would be running for president ....
I am for lack of a term a Constitutionalist; but I grapple with whether the former presidents run for office should not somehow be stopped - he could literally go to prison and still be president. Talk about a design flaw.
I would have agreed with you like on October 6th ... but now .........???
By supporting someone other than Trump. On Jan 20, 2021, Trump lost his active political power. That was the perfect time for the GOP electorate and elected officials and party officials to start distancing the GOP from him and, in so doing, start the healing. They did the opposite.
If the GOP electorate did not support Trump, he would be nothing right now. This is all ultimately the fault of the electorate who are polling heavily for Trump and the spineless elected officials who talk trash behind Trump's back while supporting him publicly for fear of rebuke from their constituents. Still boils down to the electorate.
True. Worse, he would be a convicted felon ... likely several counts and, in particular, sedition.
Yes, I agree - yet the former president is the one true 'cult of personality' that the US has experienced. I do not believe the former president lost his 'active' political power - as I think so many feared what he could do to them in the court of public opinion. ............................................................................. that said after the failure of the Trump backed candidates in 2022, I am failing to understand how he now has so much power .. he cost the GOP major congressional seats. Alas here we are - I have been suffering from 'shaking head syndrome' since 2016
I used 'active' to distinguish it from 'passive'. He was no longer the PotUS (active power) but he still held influence (passive power).
It would take courage and initiative (and intelligence) to break free of Trump. So I understand the reluctance of elected GOP officials (but I still blame them for their failure).
But the court of public opinion does not affect the individual GOP voter and it is these folks, collectively, who have kept Trump relevant. As noted, it all eventually boils down to the electorate failing to be informed and acting responsibly.
Thanks for the clarification.
Ooo hell no, it does not even equate into reality for them .. Chris Rock had a comedy special in which he said 'if bullets cost 5000 dollars each there would not be innocent bystanders shot' [not a direct quote] There has to be 'a cost' before individuals realize the consequences are real.
Governor Hutchison is a good man. It's too bad they won't listen to him
They will not listen to anyone except Trump and his sycophant talking heads.
moderate republican officials are virtually extinct now.
Ahh ... the world is unfolding to Steve Bannon's liking ... into a Trotsky Theme Park with earlybird free watches.
a neo-nazi nirvana.
MAGA has already decided that Trump is being railroaded, so it is a done deal in that sense. If they can truly believe that the election was stolen from him , then they can truly believe he is being persecuted by the justice system. In reality its all over in terms of depending on Republicans to save the country.
Sadly we have turned into a nation, at least a part of our nation has completely lost its moral compass and with it most of its gray matter.
“…a part of our nation has completely lost its moral compass…”
And nary a comment from the directionless…only confirming that they can only follow which way the wind is blowing on any given day.
Focusing always on the anecdotal or Hunter or Chicago or California or the border or Hamas or the faux dilemma du jour. Never contributing a salient point worthy of necessary consideration, but simply parroting the idiocy and missing an opportunity to engage in meaningful discussion in their willful ignorance. Pathetic.
MAGA Minds + MAGA Morals = MAGA Madness...
If Asa wasn't as old as he is, he would be my first choice for president. Even with his age I prefer him over any of the other candidates from either party.
I agree. 10 years younger and he would be the clear best in the pack.
Of course, today’s GOP would still blindly and stupidly support Trump.
it's a personality cult.
Whoever wins the nomination, be it Trump, DeSantis, or Haley, they will easily beat Biden.
thanks for affirming you'll vote for whomever has an R next to their name, criminal or coward...
To GOP members of NT: would you have booed and ignored Hutchinson for the strategic advice he offered for the good of the GOP?
Fuckin' Reagan? Really? If Republicans really, really want a Reagan redux then they should vote for Biden. Biden is upholding the Reagan legacy.
Don't these Reagan airheads understand why Trump beat the Republican Party in 2016? If Republicans can only sell themselves with Reagan then Republicans got nuthin'. Trump is a vast improvement over Ronald Reagan.
Trump is a traitor who violated his oath of office by undermining the CotUS through coercion, fraud, lying and incitement in an attempt to steal, for the only time in US history, a presidential election. He engaged in sedition and you think he is fit to be PotUS???
Donald Trump is a better choice by several orders of magnitude than Ronald Reagan or Bill Clinton. Reagan and Clinton were much bigger traitors than Trump. Reagan and Clinton are responsible for our out-of-control national debt, our dependence upon imports, the country being stuck in forever war quagmires.
You consider them traitors because of fiscal, trade and defense policy??
Looks like you are redefining the word 'traitor'.
The only reason to trot these Reagan ass kissers across the stage is to strengthen Trump. All the neoliberal airheads (Republican AND Democrat) completely ignore that Trump crushed the Republican Party during the 2016 primaries. Trump did not win the nomination as a Reagan Republican. Donald Trump groin kicked Ronald Reagan and became the darling of the Republican base.
So, if you want Trump to become President again then line up more Reagan Republicans to remind the public why they elected Trump the first time.
Who besides Trump is not a Reagan Republican in your mind? That is, who would you suggest as an alternative to Trump?
That's the problem. It's difficult to name a Republican that would be an alternative to Trump. DeSantis isn't a Reagan Republican but he's just pandering; he's basically an empty suit. Haley is trying to straddle the fence; she's claimed free markets aren't enough but is still wedded to tax cuts fixes everything. Haley has a lot in common with Biden although Haley would choose a much better VP. Ramaswamy isn't a Reagan Republican but he's trying to be a caricature of Trump. Chris Christie should be kicked out of the Republican Party altogether.
Given Trump is a traitor and there is no one else who has the special qualities that you believe he has, there is no rational option. No matter how much you like Trump's policies, he is a traitor and is unfit to be PotUS.
The GOP should have been (and still should be) focusing their efforts to put forth a nominee with sufficient character and qualities to serve as PotUS.
Flinging hyperbolic accusations of treason to elicit an emotional response is not a rational argument. Even a Ukrainian spy in the White House could not level charges of treason. Yet the irrationally rational make those accusations out of hand.
You know, Kamala Harris has flatly stated that alleviating the migration crisis at the southern border will require addressing poverty and crime in the countries of origin. Yet Biden gives hundreds of billions of dollars to impoverished Europe to defend against the Russian closet monster instead of addressing the crisis at that southern border. And the response to that rather obvious duplicity and failure to protect the national sovereignty of the United States is to accuse Trump of treason. How very self-servingly rational.
Where did I mention treason? Tone down your imagination and read what people write.
You wrote in @9.1.6 - "Given that Trump is a traitor ...." You not only mentioned treason, you asserted that treason is an uncontestable fact.
Perhaps it would be wise to review the definition of gaslighting.
Learn the meaning of the word 'traitor', Nerm. One can be legitimately labeled a traitor without being found legally guilty of treason.
See usage 1 in Merriam-Webster (for example).