North Carolina governor Pat McCrory talked about the controversial House Bill 2 on NBC’s Meet The Press Sunday.

Chuck Todd, host of the show, asked McCrory whether or not he had spoken with any transgender people before he signed the law. McCrory said he had not.

“But I’ve met with transgender people in the past and have met with them since and have had very positive conversations,” he said.

Over the past few weeks many have called for North Carolina to repeal the bill, but for the most part McCrory said he expects the bill to stay in place.

“There is one part of the bill I disagreed with before I signed it,” he said. “And that is not able to sue in state courts and that needs to be repealed. It was very poorly thought out.”

The bill requires transgender people to use the bathroom of the gender on their birth certificate, as well as prevents local governments from creating minimum wage laws and removes legal protections from some minority groups.

McCrory said the part of the bill concerning bathroom privacy will not be repealed, despite Todd saying over 160 companies have called for the bill’s repeal.

“Any estimates of lost revenue we have so far (NBC) has come up with, a conservative calculation is $39.7 million,” Todd said. “One hundred and eighty six million dollars perhaps in revenue and some have suggested billions.”

A number of celebrities and musicians have canceled appearances in the state.

Even with the growing number of people and groups who have come out against the legislation, McCrory said he felt there was a disconnect between businesses and the citizens of North Carolina.

He mentioned a recent visit to Hamlet, North Carolina.

“I walked into a buffet restaurant, African-American buffet restaurant and the people welcomed me with open arms and said ‘thanks for protecting us,'” McCrory said. “I got back to my car and got a call from someone in corporate America saying ‘man you’ve got to change this we’re getting killed.'”

McCrory said he wanted to have dialogue moving forward.

“This was basically a restroom privacy issue versus equality,” he said. “These things need to be discussed, not threatened by Hollywood or anyone.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjbX_77e_KI

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