Source: Politics<\/p>\n
Conservative pundit Tucker Carlson sparred with Asa Hutchinson after inquiring about the former Arkansas governor\u2019s vaccination status on Friday.<\/p>\n
Carlson, interviewing Hutchinson on stage at the conservative Family Leadership Summit<\/a> in Des Moines, Iowa, asked the 2024 Republican presidential candidate how many Covid-19 vaccinations he had received and how he felt about his decision to do so in retrospect. Hutchinson confirmed that he had been vaccinated against Covid-19 and defended his choice as the \u201cright decision of taking the vaccine for me,\u201d but noted that others can \u201cmake a different decision.\u201d<\/p>\n But before Hutchinson gave his answer, he lobbed the question back to Carlson.<\/p>\n \u201cHow many Covid shots did you take?\u201d Hutchinson asked.<\/p>\n \u201cZero,\u201d Carlson responded to a round of applause from the audience. <\/p>\n \u201cI can see that you recoiled when I asked you that question,\u201d said Carlson, a former Fox News anchor and longtime vaccine skeptic. \u201cAnd I don\u2019t think, honestly, you should be asking people about their medical care. But that became a matter of public policy, and I do think the whole country ought to pause and assess, \u2018What did we just go through, and how do we feel about it now?\u2019\u201d So it\u2019s a very straightforward question.\u201d<\/p>\n Before confirming he had been vaccinated, Hutchinson touted his opposition to vaccine mandates as the governor of Arkansas, pointing to a law he signed<\/a> that prohibited vaccination mandates among government employees. In 2021, Hutchinson also OK\u2019d a law<\/a> allowing employees to opt out of vaccination requirements from businesses \u2014 although he called the debate on the opt-out bill \u201charmful to our goal of increasing vaccination rates in Arkansas.\u201d<\/p>\n Hutchinson did not address Carlson\u2019s claim that there were \u201can awful lot of people injured\u201d by vaccine mandates, instead going on to discuss his efforts to keep schools and small businesses open and avoid shelter-in-place orders during his term as governor.<\/p>\n