Gov. Hutchinson avows support for Trump, troubled with ‘flaws’ in both presidential candidates

Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Thursday reiterated his support for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, but said he was “troubled” by recent events and allegations of sexual assault against the GOP candidate that have roiled the increasingly sordid race to the White House.

In attempting carefully to choose his words, Hutchinson said he has distanced himself from the presidential race because of campaign rhetoric, the failings of both candidates, and ongoing allegations against Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton that dominate the news cycle.

“I am troubled by all of the rhetoric. I am troubled by the statements that have been made by Donald Trump in terms of women in past decades,” Hutchinson said, adding, “I’m not following the current discussions that closely as I prepare for this trip to China.”

But Hutchinson continued: “As I have said, we have two candidates that are both flawed, and the American public just has to evaluate it. My evaluation is on the ‘big picture items’ of where our economy goes, where we are in fighting ISIS and in terms of the Supreme Court – and I also hope both candidates in the third debate, as we get ready for that, concentrate on serious issues that really affect the American public.”

Hutchinson made his remarks during a media availability with reporters before he, Arkansas Economic Development Commission Executive Director Mike Preston, two other staff members and a state trooper head to China on Saturday for a weeklong trade mission.

However, the press conference largely focused on questions about Trump’s conduct, and new allegations in a New York Times article where multiple accusers claimed the Republican Party presidential candidate forcibly groped, touched and kissed several women without their consent over a period of nearly 30 years.

In response to questions on whether any revelations concerning Trump would cause him to rescind his support of the party nominee, Hutchinson said he could not predict the future and commented that every voter has to ask themselves if either of the major party candidate’s behavior will cause them to withdraw their support.

“You don’t know what the future holds, so I won’t comment on that. You just have to evaluate the (presidential) campaign day by day,” the governor said. “I think you can also ask the question for every candidate: ‘Is there a deal-breaker out there?’”

Hutchinson added that recent WikiLeaks revelations concerning Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton should also cause her supporters to pause, citing ongoing questions about State Department and personal email accounts, the Benghazi investigation and recent comments about religious groups.

“You could argue, there could be deal-breakers on both sides,” Hutchinson said. “These are tough times. Campaigns sometimes bring out not the best in people. Sure, there is a line that is always crossed, but you vote for a team and in this instance, I look at the future direction of the country and I’ve made my decision.”

GOVERNOR, AEDC HEAD TO CHINA ON SIX-DAY TRADE MISSION
Pivoting back to the Far East trade mission next week, Hutchinson said he and his staff will not only meet with Chinese businesses and corporations that may expand to the U.S. in the future, but also plan to visit with Arkansas companies already doing business in the Far East country – including Walmart, Tyson Foods and Cobb-Vantress Inc.

“Historically, we made these trips overseas to recruit industry and businesses for Arkansas, but I added a component to this trip and that is an opportunity to meet with Chinese government officials in promoting Arkansas’ agriculture, including rice and poultry,” the governor said.

The trip will take the governor and his staff to the Chinese capital city of Beijing, where he and his team will see the country’s vice president of agriculture and the secretary general of foreign affairs.

“We ask for these meetings in advance to work through the consulate general to accomplish these,” he said. “Without question, it is a good opportunity for Arkansas to present its case in terms of our rice and poultry and opening up the Chinese market in the U.S. in which there are current obstacles.”

Hutchinson explained he hopes to discuss with high-ranking Chinese government officials possibly removing some trade barriers to Arkansas poultry and agriculture products. Those talks will include the current avian flu ban on U.S. poultry products, restrictions on rice exports to China, and a U.S. complaint with the World Trade Organization that blocks some American agriculture commodities from entering China’s growing consumer marketplace, he said.

“It is a governmental challenge that we see in marketing our rice and poultry there, and by me raising the issue with them hopefully they will address it sooner rather than later,” the governor said.

The small Arkansas trade delegation – which also includes AEDC’s director of Asian business development, Mark Hamer, and Hutchinson’s chief of staff, Allison Williams – will visit five Chinese cities in four provinces over a six-day period. The trip will also include a visit to the Shandong Province, the eastern China region where Sun Paper’s international headquarters is located.

In late April, Gov. Hutchinson signed a memorandum of understanding with Sun Paper Chairman and Founder Hongxin Li to bring the Chinese conglomerate to south Arkansas to invest more than $1 billion to build a paper manufacturing facility creating 250 new jobs at an annual average salary of $52,000. That agreement came after nearly two years of negotiations that began with Gov. Mike Beebe’s administration, state officials have said.

In July, Sun Paper officials revealed the construction start had been pushed back six months from the first quarter of 2017 to the third quarter because of delays in completing ongoing pre-engineering and feasibility studies for the bio-product paper mill. Last month, Sun Paper officials announced they had hired global consulting and engineering firm Pöyry Engineering of Helsinki, Finland, to begin design plans for the multibillion project in south Arkansas.

Preston said after the governor’s press conference that the visit with Sun Paper officials is to bolster the state’s relationship with the Chinese paper products giant, stressing there are no ongoing issues or problems with the multi-billion project that will delay or stall a late 2017 construction start.

“They’ve (Sun Paper) hired an engineering firm and an environmental firm that are moving forward,” Preston said. “As far as we look at it, everything is on pace.”

According to AEDC officials, the six-day trip to China will cost Arkansas taxpayers about $45,000, which includes travel, hotel accommodations, meals and other costs for local Chinese guides and interpreters. This is Hutchinson’s second trip to China in the past year.