Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Sunday that it's unpredictable how the U.S. Supreme Court is going to rule on the constitutionality of some states' bans on same-sex marriage, with the high court scheduled to hear arguments on the matter Tuesday.
The Republican governor also stressed tolerance in talking about same-sex marriage.
Appearing on NBC's Meet the Press, Hutchinson said there isn't evidence about "a quid pro quo" in a new book called Clinton Cash about the Clinton Foundation accepting donations from foreign countries and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton's decisions as secretary of state.
"Republicans need to be careful not to overstate the case," he said. "But it reminds us that the Clintons are complicated and they tend to make mistakes."
Hutchinson voted to impeach President Bill Clinton in 1998 and served as an impeachment manager, or prosecutor, in the U.S. Senate trial. Senators acquitted Clinton in 1999.
During Hutchinson's 24-hour trip to Washington, D.C., he attended the White House correspondents dinner on Saturday as a guest of the Washington Times newspaper and appeared on the Meet the Press panel Sunday before returning to Arkansas, Hutchinson spokesman J.R. Davis said.
Leftover political funds paid for the trip through the state Republican Party, Davis said, adding that neither the state nor the Washington Times paid for the trip.
The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments Tuesday about whether same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry.
On Meet the Press, moderator Chuck Todd asked Hutchinson, who is an attorney, whether he believes "there is a line you can draw between saying the federal question is states have to recognize [same sex-marriages], versus the question of whether states have to authorize [same-sex marriage licenses]."
In response, Hutchinson believes that "there is a way that the court could do that."
"If you look at the Windsor case [in which the U.S. Supreme Court decided in a 5-4 ruling in 2013 that federal benefits such as Social Security payments, favorable tax treatment and military housing vouchers cannot be withheld from same-sex couples if those benefits are given to heterosexual couples], it was not just how gays were treated that was part of the decision," he said.
"But it also was a deference to states' definition of marriage, and that's been historically a recognition by the [U.S.] Supreme Court," Hutchinson said. "The constitution hasn't changed. But a lot of things have happened in the state courts."
He said a majority of the states that have moved to recognize gay marriage have done so "through judicial fiat versus the legislative process, and so the courts really are forcing this issue.
"As to what the Supreme Court will do, I think it's a little bit unpredictable," Hutchinson said.
"I think they could continue to give some deference to the states. But I do think that we'll probably have to clearly recognize what happens in another state, and so we'll wait and see," he said.
Todd noted that Hutchinson's son, Seth Hutchinson, signed a petition to ask the governor to veto one version of the state's Religious Freedom Restoration Act before Hutchinson asked the state House of Representatives to recall the bill and pass another version that mirrored the federal law. The Republican-dominated Legislature heeded the governor's request.
Supporters say the law will protect Arkansans when their religious beliefs conflict with state or local laws. Opponents say the law will lead to discrimination against gays and others who face religious persecution.
The governor said gay marriage divides people generationally, politically and geographically.
"Arkansas has a constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between one man and one woman. That's my conviction. That's my belief," he said, referring to Amendment 83.
"But I also recognize if we talk about this issue, we need to talk about it in terms of tolerance.
"We need to talk about [it] in terms of nondiscriminatory policy [and] the diversity of the workplace. That's the point I was making with my son, that it is a generational divide," Hutchinson said.
The Arkansas Supreme Court has yet to issue a ruling in an appeal of a Pulaski County circuit judge's May 2014 ruling that declared Arkansas' bans on same-sex marriage in the state constitution and state law to be unconstitutional.
Todd also asked Hutchinson about attending the White House correspondents dinner on Saturday in Washington, D.C.
Hutchinson said it's viewed as peculiar in Arkansas.
"It's probably not the best politics to be here," he said.
"But at the same time, one, you salute the media. The journalists ... are doing an extraordinary job in a dangerous world," Hutchinson said.
"But secondly, it is the time to really salute the president and it's a lot of irreverence," he said. "But at the same time, you have Washington coming together. If Washington comes together, it is not a bad thing."
Hutchinson is a former 3rd District congressman, federal Homeland Security undersecretary, director of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and U.S. attorney in Arkansas.
Metro on 04/27/2015