Hutchinson says Wal-Mart Confederate flag decision 'makes some sense'

Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Wednesday that Wal-Mart's decision to stop selling the Confederate flag is one that "makes some sense."

Hutchinson, speaking in a live interview on CNBC's Squawk Box program, first lauded the state's progress in offering computer coding classes in all public high schools next year before taking questions on the flag debate. He also defended the Arkansas flag and said it's "not a symbol of divisiveness" despite having a star that represents the Confederacy on it.

Wal-Mart was one of several major retailers to announce in recent days that it would stop selling the Confederate flag. The businesses made the change days after a white supremacist fatally shot nine people at a historically black church in Charleston, S.C. State legislators there are also set to decide whether to remove the same flag from the state Capitol.

Asked whether the Bentonville-based Wal-Mart made the right decision, Hutchinson said it's up to each company to make the choice but noted that it's "certainly important that we don't have symbols in our society that are offensive to a segment and arouse racial division."

He was then asked whether he would have made the same call if he were the CEO of the world's largest retailer.

"Wal-Mart does what they need to do," Hutchinson replied. "I think that their decision makes some sense. But every retailer is going to make the decision for themselves. Wal-Mart, certainly as large as they are, being the number one retailer, sets a pattern. I think it makes sense as a sensitivity to customers.

"But there's going to be a marketplace ... I don't think government should be about banning products that even might reflect some type of speech. To some people it's history, to some people it's a symbol. So you know the consumers will determine that. There's going to be a marketplace out there. But Wal-Mart out of sensitivity to their customers, I'm sure, said no to that. They set an example and a high standard, and hats off to Wal-Mart."

Some critics have called on states to act on flags that incorporate Confederate influences, including the Mississippi flag — which features the entire Confederate flag in it — and the Arkansas flag, which has a star on it that commemorates the Confederacy.

"You really have to be a history major to figure out all of that," Hutchinson said. "We've got one star. We have four stars and they all represent a different part of Arkansas history. You cannot deny history. And so, I think whether it's our connection to Spain or whether it's our connection to France — you know Spain had a Spanish Inquisition at one point. I don't think you can simply erase all of that."

The governor said he has not heard any complaints from Arkansas voters about the flag, though officials will monitor the public opinion.

"We want to continue to measure whether it's there as a point of history, which is how I view it," he said. "I don't think we want to have symbols in our society that have political representation of being divisive. And I don't see our flag in that context. We'll see whether there's greater concerns raised, but to me it's a moment of history and it's not a symbol of divisiveness."

Asked later Wednesday about his comments on the program, Hutchinson declined comment and said only that he had "said enough."

Hutchinson spent the first half of the roughly six-minute interview talking about the computer science classes that will be offered at all high schools next year. Hutchinson campaigned on the issue and called it critical to train teens for jobs that will require the skills.

He noted Arkansas has seven Fortune 500 companies "all engaged in the tech arena."

"And our workforce needs to be prepared for them," he said, adding that the state also is encouraging smaller innovation hubs "so that we can have the next tech giant right here in Arkansas."