Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) is one of several GOP governors who has frequently advocated for his constituents to get vaccinated against COVID-19. But he thinks President Biden may have gone too far with the sweeping new federal requirements he ordered last week.
On the one hand, it seems like Hutchinson is generally wary of the political ramifications of implementing mandates at the national level, telling NBC News' Chuck Todd on Sunday's edition of Meet the Press that previous vaccine requirements have come from the states. But on the other hand, the governor expressed concern that the White House's decision will backfire and increase vaccine hesitancy, which is already fairly significant across the U.S. "It increases the division in terms of vaccination when we should all be together trying to increase the vaccination uptake," he said.
Todd, for his part, wasn't sold on Hutchinson's anti-mandate argument, suggesting that the vaccine gap was already pretty wide and difficult to breach before Biden's announcement.