Gov. Hutchinson, AG Rutledge in fighting mood at GOP convention
by July 19, 2016 7:40 pm 261 views
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Attorney General Leslie Rutledge followed Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White at the Republican National Convention Tuesday (July 19), and both were in a fighting mood as they blasted Hillary Clinton and praised Donald Trump.
In a speech that was under five minutes, Hutchinson said Clinton offers “more of the same: the same uncertain leadership in fighting terrorism; the same failed top-down approach to health care where Washington tells the states what to do; the same nanny state regulations that strangle the economic strength of America.”
Hutchinson said unemployment is the lowest it’s ever been in Arkansas and pointed to the state’s $177 million surplus, adding that the country needs a president who “values the role of the states.” He criticized Clinton’s “poor decisions,” saying her efforts to reform health care “would have been more destructive than even Obamacare has been.”
“Hillary Clinton’s bad judgment, as you heard last night, left us four dead Americans in Benghazi,” he said. “It resulted in instability in Egypt, Syria and Libya, the rise of ISIS, the resurgence of Russia, an emboldened North Korea, inappropriate ties between foreign governments and the Clinton Foundation, and a more dangerous world. When it comes to being commander-in-chief, we don’t want a president who in the words of the FBI is ‘extremely careless’ in the handling of classified material.”
Hutchinson, who first endorsed former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and then Sen. Marco Rubio for president, praised Donald Trump, saying, “He is exactly the kind of transparent, straight-talking leader America needs right now. … A Trump presidency will be about the art of the possible. Donald Trump is the right leader for our time.”
Rutledge in her speech said she was the first female and first Republican elected attorney general in Arkansas, “the very same office Bill Clinton held when those two launched their careers of corruption.”
“Hillary is a lawyer, but she acts like the law doesn’t apply to her. Absolutely no good could have come from merging her public service with her private interests, much less her private server.”
Rutledge said the race will “shape the Supreme Court for generations” and said Trump would nominate conservative justices.
“My fellow Americans, it’s time to update your resumes because Donald Trump is growing jobs, and with a Trump presidency, America will be closed to overregulation and open for business,” she said.
Earlier in the day, Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin announced Arkansas’ results – 25 for Trump and 15 for Sen. Ted Cruz – during the roll call of states that led to Trump’s nomination for president. Griffin called Arkansas the “birthplace of Johnny Cash and Al Green” and said Republicans control all state offices, the Legislature and the congressional delegation.
“We’ve got the best duck hunting on earth; we’re number one in rice production; we raise delicious catfish; we cast our lines for world-class trout,” he said before announcing the state’s tally.