Governor Asa Hutchinson (R-AR) said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) acknowledged the Walt Disney Company handled their reaction to Florida’s Parental Rights law “very poorly.”
However, he also argued against punishment for Disney.
Anchor Dana Bash said, “Your fellow Republican governor Ron DeSantis of Florida signed a law effectively punishing Disney for its criticism of how sexual orientation is taught in public schools. Do you approve of DeSantis?”
Hutchinson said, “First of all, Disney has handled this very poorly. Secondly, the law, to me, is common sense. In those lower grades, you shouldn’t be teaching sexual orientation and those matters that should not be covered at that age. But I don’t believe that government should be punitive against private businesses because we disagree with them. That’s not the right approach either. And so, to me, that’s the old Republican principle of having restrained government. And so, let’s do the right thing. It’s a fair debate about these special tax privileges. I understand that debate. But let’s not go after businesses and punish them because we disagree with what they said.”
Bash said, “So, DeSantis overstepped?”
Hutchinson said, “Well, I disagree with it. I disagree with a punitive approach to businesses.”
He added, “Businesses make mistakes. They shouldn’t have done that, but we should not be punishing them for their private actions.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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