Former Arkansas Governor and GOP presidential candidate Asa Hutchinson is oh so proud. Late Monday he announced he had the required amount of donors to get him over the threshold to be a part of Wednesday's GOP Debate. 

Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson says he has met the donor threshold to participate in the first GOP primary debate after a swell of contributions that followed GOP frontrunner Donald Trump's indictments for alleged election interference.

Hutchinson said he surpassed the required 40,000 unique donors on Saturday evening.

What does the insurgent Republican candidate attribute the donor surge to? "My clarity of message on Donald Trump, that he's not the right one to lead our party, and that I'm going to get on the debate stage and speak the truth," Hutchinson told USA TODAY in an interview. "We need new leadership and a new direction, and he's not going to define our party for the future."

Having satisfied a polling requirement, Hutchinson is now expected to meet the Republican National Committee's criteria to participate in the party's Aug. 23 debate in Milwaukee. Hutchinson's campaign says he will sign the party's loyalty pledge and agree to support the Republican nominee for president – another requirement the Republican National Committee put in place that has threatened some candidates' participation.

Hutchinson is polling at less than one percent, so maybe it's a miracle; maybe it's a mercy you-know-what. A go-around-in-the-sack for this misbegotten candidate before he's divested by the candidates with more... prowess. Just related to Hutchinson's faceplant on transgender policy alone, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis could maintain the high ground and crush his candidacy like a flying cockroach. His governorship was equally lackluster as he struggled through the COVID pandemic. Arkansas skates toward the bottom tier in almost every measure compared to other states. If former President Donald Trump were debating, he'd make hay with Hutchinson, and he'd do it with relish. Trump has nicknamed Hutchinson "Aida," and he posted on his Truth Social site to rattle off the sorry poll numbers of his competitors, and why he still refuses to debate.

Trump wrote:

New CBS POLL, just out, has me leading the field by “legendary” numbers. TRUMP 62%, 46 Points above DeSanctimonious (who is crashing like an ailing bird!), Ramaswamy 7%, Pence 5%, Scott 3%, Haley 2%, Sloppy Chris Christie 2%, “Aida” Hutchinson 1%. The public knows who I am & what a successful Presidency I had, with Energy Independence, Strong Borders & Military, Biggest EVER Tax & Regulation Cuts, No Inflation, Strongest Economy in History, & much more. I WILL THEREFORE NOT BE DOING THE DEBATES

But Hutchinson is enjoying that afterglow as long as he can. He took to CNN's State of the Union and canoodled with Kasie Hunt, claiming that he would sign the pledge to support the nominee, but refusing to acknowledge that Trump could well be that nominee. 

WATCH:

HUTCHINSON: I will sign the pledge. I'm confident that Donald Trump is not going to be the nominee of the party. And I have always supported the nominee.

So, I'm going to sign the pledge and be on there. And it's really fascinating that now we have a number of legal scholars...

HUNT: But if he is the nominee, sir, if he is the nominee, if he is the nominee, will you support him?

HUTCHINSON: I'm going to support the nominee of the party. I do not expect it to be Donald Trump. And that, I'm sure, question will come up in the debate, so stay tuned for that.

But what I want to point out is, I'm not even sure he's qualified to be the next president of the United States. And so you can't be asking us to support somebody that's not perhaps even qualified under our Constitution.

And I'm referring to the 14th Amendment, that a number of legal scholars said that he is disqualified because of his actions on January 6.

HUNT: So, what would you have officials in your state, any other state do, based on the 14th Amendment? Would you have them just leave Trump off the ballot, off the primary ballot, off the general election ballot?

HUTCHINSON: No, there should be a court declaration.

And so there would have to be a separate lawsuit that would be filed in which there would be a finding that the former president engaged in insurrection, and that would disqualify him. That's one avenue. The other way would be that, if a specific state made that determination their own, then that would put the burden on someone else challenging that.

Either way, it winds up in court for a specific finding. But I expect those lawsuits to be filed. I expect some states to take that action. But I think it's a serious jeopardy for Donald Trump under our Constitution and not being qualified.

Hutchinson strikes the image of a child sticking his fingers in his ears, screaming, "LA LA LA LA LA!" Hutchinson claims that Trump is not qualified under the 14th Amendment, pointing to the four politically-motivated indictments Trump's facing and claiming that Trump's actions caused violence on January 6.

On Wednesday, before he qualified for the debate, Hutchinson went on MSNBC with the overly-botoxed Nicolle Wallace. Hutchinson did the same doublespeak. To Wallace's credit, she called him on it.

Asa Hutchinson signed the RNC pledge to support the Republican nominee for president, but now says he will not support Donald Trump if he is the nominee. pic.twitter.com/qmwoFkYga8

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) August 21, 2023

Now he's thinking "lawyerly." Hutchinson also said last week, 

“I’m not going to defend Donald Trump — I will be a prosecutor,” he said in an interview with MSNBC. “I will be telling the truth on Donald Trump, and whether he’s there or not, he will be a focal point of issue.”

Newsflash to Hutchinson: As egregious of a human that he can be, former New Jersey Governor and fellow GOP candidate Chris Christie is a better lawyer than Hutchinson, and has cornered the "Trump is horrible" lane. So, Hutchinson should enjoy this victory lap while he can, and expect to be cut to ribbons in Wednesday's debate.