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One of former President Donald Trump’s rivals for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination has said that Trump would be “delusional” if he believes a possible defense in recent charges brought against him.
Former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, who has been sharply critical of the former president, took aim at the idea that Trump could claim he genuinely believed the 2020 election was stolen from him.
Trump remains the frontrunner for the GOP nomination in 2024 and Hutchinson is among many candidates also seeking the party’s nomination, with his poll numbers well behind the former president’s.
Hutchinson discussed the recent charges brought against Trump as part of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s probe into attempts to overturn the 2020 election during an appearance on CNN on Friday.
Scott Olson/Getty Images
“Here the special counsel says that he [Trump] actually knew he lost the election but he tried to overturn the election anyway,” Hutchinson said.
“And the defense is that, well, he actually believed that he won the election,” the Republican went on. “So if you believe the defense then you’ve got a candidate who wants to be president who’s delusional.”
Sharing a video clip of his remarks on X, formerly known as Twitter, Hutchinson wrote: “If #DonaldTrump believes his own defense, then we have a man running for President that is delusional! We don’t need an agent of chaos in the Oval Office.”
“We need strong, consistent, and conservative leadership. Help me qualify for the debates,” he added, including a link to his website.
Newsweek has reached out to the Trump campaign via email for comment.
Hutchinson has not yet qualified for the first Republican presidential debate.
To qualify for the debate on August 23, Hutchinson will need to have a minimum of 40,000 unique donors, including at least 200 unique donors each from 20 or more states or territories.
He’ll also need to poll at least 1 percent in three national polls. Alternatively, he has to have a minimum of 1 percent in two national polls and in early state polls from two of the following: Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.
The former governor is currently polling at 0.8 percent in the GOP primary, according to analysis from poll tracker FiveThirtyEight, while Trump enjoys 55.3 percent support.
Trump pleaded not guilty on Thursday to four felony counts tied to attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election outcome and the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol that followed.
The former president has denied all wrongdoing and repeatedly criticized Smith’s investigation
It’s not yet clear what defense Trump will offer to the charges when they come to trial but one possible defense that’s being discussed is that Trump genuinely believed he had won the 2020 election.
That defense could potentially require Trump to take the stand, while the indictment against the former president cited numerous instances where U.S. officials and others informed Trump that there was no evidence the election had been stolen from him.
Former Attorney General Bill Barr told CNN this week: “At first I wasn’t sure, but I have come to believe he knew well he had lost the election.”
Hogan Gidley, a former White House deputy press secretary and Trump campaign spokesman told The News Agents podcast that Trump ignored staff who told him he had lost.
“Donald Trump absolutely believed he was in the right here. No question about it, regardless of how many people told him that he was wrong,” Gidley said.
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