Asa Hutchinson Greeted by Boos, 'Trump' Chants at Turning Point Event

Former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, a Republican, was greeted by boos and chants in support of former President Donald Trump after taking the stage at a conservative Turning Point USA event on Sunday.

Hutchinson is among the packed field of candidates seeking the 2024 GOP presidential nomination. He is one of many in the Republican field who has regularly polled at low single-digit support among prospective primary voters. Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump has regularly seen about 50 percent, or higher, support in the same polls.

Backing up this apparent rejection of non-Trump candidates by many GOP voters, a clip began circulating on Twitter Sunday showing the former Arkansa governor taking the stage at the Turning Point USA event. While some support could be heard from the audience, Hutchinson was largely met by a hail of boos. Near the end of the clip, which was shared by prolific Twitter user Acyn, crowd members chanting "Trump" began to take hold in the audience.

"Not a lot of Hutchinson fans," Acyn wrote alongside the clip.

"Wow. How embarrassing lol," one user wrote in response. "More boos than claps."

"Weird part about this dude is he hates Trump but is still infinity horrible on policy [sic]," another user added.

The portion of Hutchinson's appearance where the "Trump" chants broke out was also shared to Twitter by the Trump-friendly news outlet, Right Side Broadcasting Network.

Hutchinson has differentiated himself from the field of 2024 Republican candidates, and the modern party in general, by adopting more moderate stances on certain issues. At the recent Family Leadership Summit in Iowa, he got into a verbal sparring match with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson over bans on gender-affirming care for minors and vaccinations.

While many other GOP-led states have forged ahead with bans on gender-affirming care for transgender children, Hutchinson in 2021 vetoed such a bill in Arkansas, calling it "a vast government overreach." His veto was ultimately overridden by the state legislature.

Hutchinson has also spoken out against Trump's false claims about fraud in the 2020 election. The Republican presidential hopeful has argued that any officials who helped in Trump's attempts to overturn the election's results should not hold leadership positions.

In early May, Hutchinson was questioned about a CBS News/YouGov poll in which he received only 1 percent support from respondents, while Trump received 58 percent support.

"There is certainly a gap between myself and Donald Trump, who's right now leading the ticket on the Republican side," the former governor said. "But that's why you have campaigns, that's why you have choices, that's why I'm able to talk about the economy."

Newsweek reached out to the Hutchinson campaign via email for comment.