Gov. Asa Hutchinson held a news conference today ahead of a six-day trip to China, during which he’ll promote the state’s rice and poultry industry.
But much of the news conference was taken up questions about GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, his comments about women in a recently released “Access Hollywood” video from 2005, and allegations of sexually inappopriate behavior reported by The New York Times.
Hutchinson, like other state and congressional Republican leaders, has condemned Trump’s comments but says he’ll vote for him as president.
Here’s a transcript of Hutchinson’s comments on Trump during today’s news conference:
Hutchinson: “I’m troubled by all the rhetoric. I’m troubled by the statements that have been made by Donald Trump in terms of women in past decades. I am not following the current discussions that closely as I prepare for this trip of China and, as I have said, I think we do have two candidates that are both flawed and the American public just has to evaluate it.
“My evaluation is on the big picture items, on where our economy goes, where we are in fighting ISIS, in terms of the Supreme Court. And I also hope that both candidates can, in the third debate, as we get ready for that, concentrate on the serious issues that really effect the American public.”
Question: “Is there ever a point where it’s a deal-breaker in terms of the party nominee and his behavior? I mean, his conduct seems to be moving to a point where it’s very difficult — and we’ve seen other Republicans leaders say, ‘This is the point where I get off the wagon.'”
Hutchinson: “You don’t know what the future holds, so I’m not going to comment on that. You know, you just have to evaluate the campaign day by day. I think you can also ask a question for every candidate, ‘Is there a deal-breaker out there?’ How many emails have to be destroyed? How many investigations have to be concluded with question marks? How many comments have to come out from one campaign in reference to religious institutions that raises concerns? So you could argue that there could be deal-breakers on both sides.
“So, you know, I supported, as you know, Marco Rubio. I supported Mike Huckabee. But I also pledged, as many people did, to support the nominee of the party. There’s a reason you engage in that. And so these are tough times, campaigns bring out sometimes not the best of people. And so, sure, there’s a line that’s always crossed. But you vote for a team and in this instance, I look at the future direction of the country and I’ve made my decision.”
Later in the news conference, another exchange:
Question: “Just to be clear, do you believe that the actions that Donald Trump described in that video would be sexual assault if it happened?”
Hutchinson: “Yes. Yes.”
Question: “That not enough to concern you enough to consider not supporting him.”
Hutchinson: “I’ve already articulated my view on that. Regretfully, Donald Trump says things. And, you know, as you said, ‘If they were true, would they be?’ We don’t know whether that’s true or not. He’s making a statement. But it is very disappointing — it’s unconscionable. You don’t have that kind of language in a locker room or in a private context. We need to respect and uplift women, including — well, all aspects. And that’s not doing that in that language.”
Question: “I would like to follow up with that. It’s not just that it’s language now, with the news story coming out that women are saying that he actually acted on the things that he was previously talking about. So going back to someone else’s question, should those women who were quoted in the New York Times story be believed about what they’re describing as sexual assault?”
Hutchinson: “I have not looked into that. I don’t know the details of that. The public has to weigh that. I think some of these are multiple decades old. That does not necessarily make a difference. You know, I think that you’ve got women that’s making complaints of sexual inappropriate conduct on both sides of the fence, and you could ask the same question; ‘Should Juanita Broaddrick be believed? Should the other women that have raised issues be believed?’ And as a person, I take all those allegations very seriously. But in the context of a political campaign, it gets very muddy. And so the American people just have to decide those issues.”