White House apologizes to former 2024 candidate Asa Hutchinson as Biden courts anti-Trump GOP

By ZEKE MILLER
AP White House Correspondent

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House has apologized to former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson for a Democratic National Committee statement a day earlier that mocked the end of his long-shot 2024 bid for the Republican presidential nomination. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the president’s chief of staff Jeff Zients called Hutchinson on Wednesday morning “to apologize on behalf of the president.” She added, “President Biden has deep respect for Gov. Hutchinson and admires the race that he ran.” DNC press secretary Sarafina Chitika on Tuesday responded to Hutchinson’s decision to end his campaign with a statement saying, “This news comes as a shock to those of us who could’ve sworn he had already dropped out.”