Former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson failed to qualify for the second GOP presidential debate in California this Wednesday, according to a statement from the Republican National Committee. The other seven candidates who shared the stage with him last month—Doug Burgum, Chris Christie, Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Mike Pence, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Tim Scott—all made the cut, registering at least 3 percent support in a minimum of two national polls accepted by the RNC, among other criteria. Donald Trump, who skipped the last debate, previously said he would similarly give this week’s event a pass, choosing instead to appear at a number of events in Michigan. Shortly after the list was announced on Monday night, Hutchinson told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins that he didn’t plan on dropping out of the race—at least, not yet. “We’re going to continue the campaign,” he said, adding that he’d set a goal to be polling at 4 percent by Thanksgiving or the next debate.
After the RNC announced he didn't meet the criteria for the second debate, Gov. Asa Hutchinson tells me he WON'T be dropping out of the race and will reassess at Thanksgiving. pic.twitter.com/nUXMrUohQz
