Morning Joe Praises AR Governor: ‘Night and Day’ from Mike Pence

Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson (R) declined to sign his state’s RFRA bill yesterday, instead sending it back to the legislature for changes. This provided a contrast from Indiana Governor Mike Pence (R), who has dug in his heels over the law, at times struggling to defend it as non-discriminatory.

One approach is working better than the other for the Morning Joe crew, which roundly praised Hutchinson’s handling of the bill over Pence’s.

“The way he handled it versus Pence and it’s like night and day,” said Democratic strategist David Axelrod.

RELATED: 3 Reasons Arkansas Governor Didn’t Follow Indiana’s Path on Religion Bill

“I was wondering how Asa was going to get out of this,” host Joe Scarborough said, noting Arkansas was a more conservative state than Indiana, which sometimes votes blue in national elections. “I think he did very well.”

The panel also found Hutchinson’s invocation of his son, who had signed a petition urging his governor-dad to veto the legislation, sincere. “I think it was well-played,” host Mika Brzezinski said. “I like Asa a lot. It was really well-done.”

Watch the clip below, via MSNBC:

[Image via screengrab]

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