GOP presidential candidate Asa Hutchinson was greeted by boos and chants of “Trump” Sunday when he walked onto the stage to speak at the Turning Point Action Conference in West Palm Beach, Fla..
Despite this, Hutchinson welcomed the audience and continued introducing himself to attendees. “I am delighted to be here today to express my support for young people being engaged in the political arena and fighting for the conservative cause,” he said.
Hutchinson went on to discuss recently finishing eight years as Arkansas’s governor before he “handed the reins of state government over to Sarah Huckabee Sanders,” to which the audience cheered.
Chants and rumbles of “Trump” rose as the audience started again a few moments later, after Hutchinson said, “As Republicans, we need to be able to fight for our cause. We need to be able to build the spirit of our cause and to bring in independent and those like-minded folks that can support us and win in 2024.”
The GOP hopeful continued while “Trump” chants persisted, even pausing for a few seconds until the crowd quieted.
It was not all pushback for Hutchinson, with some of the crowd cheering when he discussed certain policy choices such as his ban on biological men competing in women’s sports.
Other GOP presidential candidates including Trump and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez also spoke at the conference.
Hutchinson formally announced his bid for president in April, positioning himself as a “non-Trump,” candidate. He called out the former president to drop out of the race, previously telling The Hill, “The last thing that we need is another Joe Biden-Donald Trump race in 2024.”
A Morning Consult poll released last week showed Trump as the front-runner of the Republican race, with 56 percent of potential GOP primary voters saying they would back the former president, compared to Hutchinson’s 1 percent backing.