Former Arkansas Gov. Hutchinson calls on Trump to 'stand aside' after indictment

Former Arkansas Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Friday called on former President Donald Trump to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race after news broke that a grand jury had voted to indict him.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has pursued a case involving a hush money payment that Trump's then-personal attorney, Michael Cohen, made to Stormy Daniels in 2016. Legal experts have derided the case as baseless and a political prosecution.

In an appearance on Fox Business, however, Hutchinson contended that Trump should respect the office of the presidency by not running while indicted.

"When a public official is indicted, I think with regard to the office, the office is more important than the person and they should step aside. That standard should apply here," he said in reference to Trump, according to The Hill. "It is a distraction. It is not a good day for America, but the system has to play out here and we have to have confidence that it can."

Hutchinson did admit he "would not have brought" the case were he in Bragg's position and warned that the chargers needed to be "very substantive" to avoid the appearance of a political prosecution.

The Arkansas governor is reportedly considering a presidential bid of his own, putting him at odds with Trump and large field of other challengers.

Unlike Hutchinson, however, all of Trump's declared opponents for the GOP nomination supported the former president and called the DA's case a political stunt.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.