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April 2 (UPI) -- Former Gov. Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas said Sunday that he will run for president in the 2024 election, adding his name to a growing list of Republican candidates seeking to go head-to-head with former President Donald Trump for the party's nomination. Hutchinson, 72, revealed that he would run for the office in an interview with ABC's "This Week" program, with a formal announcement to come later in April.
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"I have made a decision, and my decision is I'm going to run for president of the United States," Hutchinson said. "The reason is, I've traveled the country for six months, I hear people talk about the leadership of our country. I'm convinced that people want leaders that appeal to the best of America, and not simply appeal to our worst instincts."
Hutchinson called the current political landscape in the United States "one of the most unpredictable political environments" he has seen in his lifetime.
"So my message of experience, of consistent conservatism and hope for our future in solving problems that face Americans, I think that that resonates," Hutchinson said.
Hutchinson added that Trump's indictment in New York simply "adds to the unpredictability" and said he believes the former president should drop out of the race.
"The office is more important than any individual person," Hutchinson said. "And so for the sake of the office of the presidency, I do think that's too much of a sideshow and distraction and he needs to be able to concentrate on his due process and there is a presumption of innocence."
Hutchinson urged Republicans to "let the system work" as Trump defends himself from criminal prosecution.
The former governor also clarified that he considers himself a member of the "non-Trump lane" rather than the "anti-Trump lane."
The news came as Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., told NBC News' "Meet the Press" on Sunday that he won't make a decision whether to run for re-election or for the presidency until the end of the year.
Manchin, a conservative Democrat, has regularly gone against his party on key issues and could be a presidential contender for centrist voters in an increasingly polarized political landscape.
"I'm going to do whatever I can to have a voice in that middle that we can basically force both sides and say, 'Wait a minute, you've gone to extremes, you've got to start coming back,'" Manchin said.
"You've got to find ways to solve problems. You can't solve them from the extreme right and extreme left. You can't make people make you pick a side."
