Tucker Carlson debates with Gov. Hutchinson on decision to veto HB 1570

LITTLE ROCK (KATV) — On Tuesday night, Fox News host Tucker Carlson questioned Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson over his decision to veto a bill banning gender transition procedures for Arkansans under the age of 18, including prescribing drugs.

This comes after the Arkansas legislature voted to override Gov. Hutchinson’s veto of the ‘SAFE Act’ bill that bans the youth gender surgeries. Carlson began the interview by saying, “I think of you as a conservative. Here you have come out publicly as pro-choice on the question of chemical castration of children. What changed?”

Hutchinson immediately disagreed with Carlson's description of the bill.

In the interview, Carlson told Hutchinson that he clearly was not familiar with research on the bill. Hutchinson stated that the bill, the first of its kind to be passed in the country, is “overbroad” and “extreme.” He said that the bill "invokes the state" in medical decisions.

“I’m a person of faith, but at the same time, I'm a person of limited role of government. I sign pro-life bills, I signed many bills that would be looked at as very conservative, but this is one that crosses the line. There's no need for it," Hutchinson said.

Gov. Hutchinson is barred by term limits from seeking reelection in 2022.

Carlson worked as a columnist at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette newspaper in Little Rock before joining The Weekly Standard news magazine in 1995.