May 4
After leaving Iowa on Wednesday, Hutchinson headed onto New Hampshire to kickstart his campaign in the state that hosts the first-in-the-nation primary.
May 5
Politico’s Playbook Deep Dive podcast released an interview with Hutchinson in which he discussed abortion, marijuana legalization, violent extremism, his chances (which he describes as a long shot) and, somewhat oddly, the Clinton impeachment amongst other issues.
May 6
Although he definitely did travel to New Hampshire, the only press he received of this trip was a handful of articles in his native Arkansas and a rather vaguely worded tweet from his own Twitter account.
May 7
Having returned to Arkansas, Hutchinson appeared on NBC’s Meet The Press. He distanced himself from the right of the party, questioning former President Trump’s electability and condemning the January 6th attacks. He also called for increased transparency on the Supreme Court. He treaded carefully on the issue of gun control, saying that shootings happen in all states and crediting Senator Cornyn for some bipartisan gun legislation passed last year and emphasizing the need to address mental health issues.
May 8
On Monday, it was all quiet on the Hutchinson front.
May 9
Following the verdict of a New York court finding Trump liable in a civil rape case, Hutchinson appeared on MSNBC and CNN. He condemned Trump unequivocally saying that “The jury verdict should be treated with seriousness and is another example of the indefensible behaviour of Donald Trump.”
May 10
Hutchinson held a meet and greet in Manchester hosted by the New Hampshire Federation of Republican Women.
Over the last two weeks Asa Hutchinson’s campaign strategy has taken on some noticeable characteristics. He is clearly placing himself as a traditional fiscal conservative bringing forward memories of Mitt Romney’s 2012 campaign whilst placing himself in firm opposition to Trump-era style politics. He is campaigning hard on the cable networks and has hit the trail in Iowa and New Hampshire. Polling remains tough for Hutchinson, having not got above 1% in any public poll since he launch his campaign over two weeks ago.
