NECC students, staff and faculty were invited on Oct. 18 to meet presidential candidate Asa Hutchinson. 

Hutchinson, who is a former federal prosecutor, congressman, Bush II administration official and two-term governor of Arkansas, spoke in TC103. He is a 2024 candidate for the Republican presidential nomination. 

 Hutchinson with his Southern accent drawl, promoted his campaign to all those who attended and tried to persuade his audience to vote for him because he is running for the 2024 presidential election. Aware that he has competition with former president Donald Trump, he knew that he was considered the “underdog” of the Republican presidential candidates. 

However, that made him want to prove himself to NECC as it was a bold approach to encourage the predominantly middle-left wing ideologists that he can be a much better figure than Trump. 

Relating to the working-class people, he proceeded to talk about his upbringing, growing up on a farm and working in a factory. 

When he received a college degree in accounting, it wasn’t until he found out after he graduated that he wanted to go into law school. He found the reason for his potential career because he stated he “started reading cases he fell in love with.” He continues to share that he and his wife Susan Hutchinson had a double-wide mobile home in Arkansas raising their children, which is unlike most political figures who started from wealth. Hutchinson also provided information that made people feel safe and protective during his time as an attorney as he spoke about “serving our country in times of crisis in which I had to lead,” from prosecuting a neo-Nazi hate group in his home state of Arkansas. He proceeds to tell how he was wearing a bulletproof vest in this intimidating event and approaching the extremists, prosecuting them once they surrendered. 

Furthermore, he explained his position working under former President George W. Bush when Hutchinson was the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration. 

One month after 9/11 it was his “job to make sure that the United States was not attacked by terrorist groups again” and he was held responsible for securing the U.S border and transportation. This was his opportunity to display trust to his crowd with previous experience as he had also taken his example to a present approach speaking about antisemitism regarding the Israel and Palestine conflict that is currently happening. 

At the end of his speech, he made time to answer questions from students.