WASHINGTON— It was supposed to be a pick-up game of basketball.
Asa Hutchinson had continued to play weeklywhen he was elected governor of Arkansas, gathering a crew to play at high school gyms on Friday nights.
Hutchinson'saides thought he would enjoy playing inCubawhen he made an official visit in2015 shortly afterthe U.S. restored diplomatic ties with the communist country.
"I'm just thinking of a little pickup game," Hutchinson recalled. "They dropped me off at the Cuban national sports arena. I go in there, and they hadtheCuban national teamwarming up on both ends of the court— with referees, in uniform — and the international media was there. I said, 'It'stoo late to back out.'"
Hutchinson says the basketballgame in Cuba, where the professional players were hesitant at first to foul him and backed away when he went to shoot, made for a good ice breaker. It became a habit of his to playwhen hetraveled outside the U.S.
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"So now I've played basketball in Switzerland, Bolivia, I played basketball in Mexico, in China, in Japan, in Israel, in Germany, on and on down the list," he told USA TODAY during a sit-down interview. "So I'm aninternational basketball player."
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Who is Asa Hutchinson?
- Age: 72
- Wife: Susan
- Children: Asa III, Sarah, John, Seth
- Grandchildren: 7
- Pets:American Eskimo named "Bandit;" cat named "Snowflake"
- Favorite Book: "Troublesome Young Men"
- Favorite Movie: "Cool Hand Luke"
Hutchinson announcesWhite House bid
Hutchinson has beentesting the waters for a presidential bidand said Sunday he will seek the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.
He will formally announce his candidacy on April 26 inBentonville, Ark.
Noting that it is where he was born and practiced law prior to becoming governor of the state, Hutchinson told USA TODAY, "I think that helps to tell the story as to who I am."
Former President Donald Trump became the firstmajor Republican candidate to announce his 2024 bid last November. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy entered the fray inFebruary.
Several other Republicansmay soon follow suit, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, Vice President Mike Pence and New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who competed in 2016, also recently held a town hall in New Hampshire.
In an interview, Hutchinson, who left office earlier this year after serving two terms as Arkansas governor,said he hopes voters find him to be "authentic, aperson of faith and somebody that loves my family." He also emphasized his experience battling white supremacists as a U.S. attorney and cartel leaders as head of the Drug Enforcement Administration.
What did Hutchinson do as governor of Arkansas?
Hutchinson approvedtax cuts for individuals and corporations in Arkansas — a state he presided over for eight years as governor.
One of Hutchinson's most notable actions is thenear-total abortion ban trigger law that he signed prior to theSupreme Court ruling overturning abortion rightslast summer.
The ban provides an exceptionfor when a mother's life is at risk and has no exclusions for victims of rape andincest. Hutchinson later lamented the ban's lack of exceptions, and said it should be "revisited,"but has defended signing the bill, saying theaim of the law was to reduce abortions.
Hutchinson also made national headlines in March of 2021 when he signed a law that banned transgender women athletes from participating in women'ssports teams in schools. The move drew widespread condemnation from LGBTQ rights groups.
Shortly after signing the bill, Hutchinson vetoed another piece of legislation in April of 2021 that would have banned gender-affirming care for anyone under 18, calling it “over broad” and “extreme.” The Arkansas state legislature overrode the veto.
During the coronavirus pandemic, Hutchinson banned COVID-19 vaccine requirements in state and local governments. He also signed into law a ban on state and local mask mandates, a move he later regretted as cases of the Delta variant were surging among children.
"People want to return to normal and they want to be able to have someone in office that's a problem solver. That's my experience in government, both as a prosecutor but also as a governor," he told USA TODAY.
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Asa Hutchinson worked on Bill Clinton impeachment
Early in his career,Hutchinson workedas a federal prosecutor. Former Republican President Ronald Reagan appointed him to serve asU.S. attorney for the Western District of Arkansas.
He was later elected to the House of Representatives, representing Arkansas' 3rd congressional district from 1997 until he joined former President George W. Bush's administration in 2001. He served first as DEA administratorand later became an undersecretary of the Department of Homeland Security.
While in Congress, he served as an impeachment manager during fellow Arkansas native andformer President Bill Clinton's trial in the House.Hutchinson, who said he was hesitant at first due to the potential electoral consequences of sharing a home state with Clinton, said he felt it was his “constitutional duty.”
“This was a constitutional crisis at that time, in the sense that we hadn’t done that in a 100 plus years, so I took on that responsibility, not knowing how that would impact me politically, but I thought it was necessary,” Hutchinson told USA TODAY.
He said he also worried, "If I don't do it, will somebody else do it that is not going to be balanced and fair andprofessional about it."
"The end result was I did get reelected, because Ithink the people of Arkansas saw that I was doing it for the right motivations and did it in a highly professional way."
Francesca Chambers is a White House Correspondent for USA TODAY. Follow her on Twitter @fran_chambers.
