Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Sunday warned the GOP against threatening primary challenges for every politician who runs up against the party with a contrary political point of view.
In an interview on ABC News’ “This Week,” Hutchinson pointed to pressure on GOP Reps. Majorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Liz Cheney of Wyoming for controversial stances that angered Republicans.
In Greene’s case, her involvement with conspiracy theories like QAnon has raised the hackles of fellow Republicans; in Cheney's case, her vote to impeach former President Donald Trump riled the party.
“I’m not going to answer that question as to whether [Greene is] fit to serve because she believes in something that everybody else does not accept, I reject that,” Hutchinson said. “But she's going to stand for re-election. I don't think we ought to punish people from a disciplinary standpoint, a party standpoint, because they think something a little bit different.”
“We got to make sure that we don't divide our party,” Hutchinson continued. “I'm more troubled by someone going in and opposing Liz Cheney because she took a different position than many others in the party. That’s the kind of thing that tears our party apart, we need the to not start primarying everyone because we don't like how they handle things post-election.”
According to Hutchinson, the GOP has to get back to its roots.
“When you have a broad diversity of a party, you reject the extreme elements, it's not mainstream GOP, and that's what we got to get back to,” he said. “We've got to have a regard for those people who supported Donald Trump… because they have a message, they have a concern.
“At the same time, we don't want to gloss over the terrible actions that happened at the Capitol. We need to hold people accountable for that, that is critically important,” he said, referring to the impeachment charge against Trump.
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