Trump tells supporters to take Covid-19 vaccine but backtracks immediately, branded 'king of mixed messaging'
After President Donald Trump was asked if he would recommend that his supporters take the Covid-19 vaccine on Tuesday, March 16, he initially began by saying that he would encourage his voter base to do so but backtracked his own words in the latter part of his speech, citing free will.
The exchange took place over a phone call with Fox News anchor Maria Bartiromo. "Mr President I know that you received the vaccine, Mrs Trump also got the vaccine, would you recommend to our audience that they get the vaccine then?" the host asked, to which the ex-POTUS replied, "I would recommend it and I would recommend it to a lot of people that don't wanna get it."
READ MORE
"And a lot of those people voted for me, frankly, but you know but again we have our freedoms, and we have to live by that. And I agree with that also. But it is a great vaccine. It is a safe vaccine and it is something that works," he added.
Trump encourages his supporters to get the coronavirus vaccine but then says, "we have our freedoms, and we have to live by that. And I agree with that also." pic.twitter.com/2GVXwMokCE
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 16, 2021
After the clip of his phone interview went viral on Twitter, people started reacting to Trump's words accusing him of not fully endorsing the vaccination program. "Gotta keep that 'base' base...happy," one of them said, while another wrote, "He is the king of mixed messaging.."
A third commented, "Could there have been any doubt that former guy would F this up?" The next remarked, "He should be locked up for crimes against the public." Another said, "So 'I recommend you get the vaccine, but if you don't want to, that A-OK with me.'"
Could there have been any doubt that former guy would F this up?
— Mr. Sub does not negotiate with terrorists. Ever. (@Mr___Sub) March 16, 2021
He should be locked up for crimes against the public
— HopefulAgain (@pizzafruittart) March 16, 2021
So "I recommend you get the vaccine, but if you don't want to, that A-OK with me".
— Oreo (@OreoBuffy5) March 17, 2021
A commenter tweeted, "It's the same as his mask 'endorsement' last year. 'I support masks, but you don't have to wear one if you don't want to.'" One more quipped, "Just like 'there are good people on both sides.'"
Another said, "So he says to do something and not do something in the same sentence again." A person reacted with, "This is exactly why calls for him to speak out were willfully naive and pointless. Expecting him to do anything for the good of the nation is the same as pretending the last four years didn’t happen."
It's the same as his mask 'endorsement' last year.
— SARmedic (@SARmedic911) March 17, 2021
"I support masks, but you don't have to wear one if you don't want to."
So he says to do something and not do something in the same sentence again
— 💙🇺🇲 Impatient Cat X-1 🇺🇲💙 (@ImpatientCatX1) March 17, 2021
This is exactly why calls for him to speak out were willfully naive and pointless. Expecting him to do anything for the good of the nation is the same as pretending the last four years didn’t happen.
— Leigh Crosby (@teaandmagnolias) March 16, 2021
Fauci and the White House on Trump's efforts to push the vaccine
Although Trump was excluded from a PSA by all the living former presidents to urge the masses to take the vaccine earlier this month, top immunologist of the country Dr Anthony Fauci said over the weekend that Trump's public endorsement of the coronavirus vaccine could help convince anti-vaxxers to get inoculated as he still has an impressive reach among the people.
"I think it would make all the difference in the world," Fauci said on Fox News Sunday. "He's a very widely popular person among Republicans. If he came out and said, 'Go and get vaccinated, it's really important for your health, the health of your family and the health of the country', it seems absolutely inevitable that the vast majority of people who are his close followers would listen to him."
On Tuesday, March 16, White House press secretary Jen Psaki was asked if Republican lawmakers downplaying vaccination efforts were affecting the administration’s campaign to end the pandemic.
“I think we certainly would welcome support from and engagement from any Republican elected officials and leaders who want to advocate for the safety and efficacy of the vaccine,” she said without mentioning Trump by name. “But I think it’s important to note the biggest issues that we see from our Covid-19 team with getting more vaccines in arms is supply, which we’ve done a lot of work to address.”
Half of Trump supporters now say they will never get vaccinated
Meanwhile, according to the latest Yahoo News/YouGov poll, 50 percent of unvaccinated Americans who voted for Trump last fall said they would "never" get a vaccine while 17 percent said they were undecided and 24 percent said they would get one as soon as it's made available to them.
When compared to the people who voted for President Joe Biden, just eight percent of respondents said they would never get vaccinated, 15 percent were undecided and 68 percent said they would do so as soon as possible.