Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) said on Sunday that President Biden’s new vaccine mandate will “increase the division” between the unvaccinated and the vaccinated.
During an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Hutchinson told host Chuck Todd that Biden’s mandate will cause more resistance for people to get the vaccine and will divide the country.
“This is an unprecedented assumption of federal mandate authority that really disrupts and divides the country. It divides our partnership between the federal government and the states, and it increases the division in terms of vaccination when we should all be together trying to increase the vaccination uptake,” Hutchinson told Todd.
His comments come after Biden announced on Thursday that all private employers with 100 or more employees will be required to mandate COVID-19 vaccine and daily testing, requiring vaccines for federal workers and contractors as well.
Hutchinson also said on Sunday that he has never seen this type of federal action in the terms of health care and vaccinations, adding that state governments should be making the decision on vaccine mandates, not the federal government.
“This is something that every state has to make decisions on. I support businesses being able to require vaccination. But it’s their own independent choice for their workplace. But to have the federal mandate will be counterproductive. It’s going to increase resistance. We’re going to grow our vaccinations whether you have this or not,” Hutchinson said.
“We’re increasing them in Arkansas and we’re going to be able to increase them nationally,” he added. “But this will make it much more difficult, and will increase the divide. In my judgment, we’ve been divided over masks.”