Governor Asa Hutchinson (R-AR) said on this week’s broadcast of “Fox News Sunday” that President Joe Biden was wrong to accuse governors of “neanderthal thinking” for ditching mask mandates because American can use common sense and wear masks when they feel it is appropriate without federal government mandates.
Hutchinson said, “I think masks are going to be with us for some time, but at some point, we have to rely upon common sense and good judgment versus mandates and particularly when it comes to our businesses. They want to be able to do the right thing with their patrons and customers, but they want to be able to have some flexibility, and that’s critically important, and that’s we are giving them hope and flexibility.”
He continued, “If you relied simply upon strict public health guidelines, they would love to have a shelter in place for a year, which we cannot do as a society, and so you have to balance what our public health dictates with the reality that we have to move, we have to get back to school.”
He added, “It’s important for governors to able to lead their state. I don’t think it’s fair to say it’s Neanderthal-type thinking. The history of our country from the Boston Tea Party is freedom, protesting against over taxation, government control, and so it’s pretty natural to have a sensitivity to freedom-loving Americans that say we will do the right thing, we know what to do, just give us our freedom back and lift some of these mandates. That’s the nature of America, and I understand that. That’s not cavemen thinking. That’s common sense.”
He concluded, “Right now, people can protect themselves. If you go out and people aren’t wearing a mask, keep her distance from them. You wear a mask. If you have restaurants that aren’t following the guidelines, we will go to a restaurant that is following guidelines. People can make good decisions.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN