Former President Donald Trump blasted Republican primary rival Asa Hutchinson as “weak and pathetic” in an interview with Tucker Carlson that aired Wednesday night while the former Arkansas governor participated in Fox News’ Wisconsin debate.
Trump also called Hutchinson “nasty,” adding that he “always has been.”
The remarks came in response to a question from Carlson asking the former president to clarify who he thought shouldn’t be running for the Oval Office.
“When you say there are people on stage who shouldn’t be running for president, who do you mean?” Carlson asked.
“Well, I don’t want to really use names but it wouldn’t matter too much,” Trump said. “A guy like ‘Ada’ Hutchinson. It’s ‘Asa’ but I call him ‘Ada.’”
“Why do you call him ‘Ada?’” Carlson said.
“I could tell you, but I don’t want to get myself into a little trouble,” Trump said.
Hutchinson spent the evening on stage in Milwaukee participating in the Republican debate moderated by Carlson’s former network. Trump opted out of the debate after refusing to sign on to the required RNC pledge to support the eventual Republican nominee. The former president is leading the field by more than 40 points, while Hutchinson is polling at less than 1 percent, according to RealClearPolitics’ latest aggregate of surveys.
“How does this guy get elected governor of Arkansas?” Trump asked.
At an Iowa forum in July, Carlson pressed Hutchinson on his 2021 veto of a bill that would have
