Politics

Trump Blames Democrats For Vaccine Hesitancy

(Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Brianna Lyman News and Commentary Writer
Font Size:

Former President Donald Trump said that Democrats “disparaged the vaccine” and should be blamed for some people’s hesitancy to get the shot, in an exclusive interview with Fox News published Monday.

“If you remember, when I was president, there were literally lines of people wanting to take it,” Trump said in the interview. “Now, you have a different situation, and it’s very bad.”

“Of course, they famously said, ‘if Trump came up with it, I’ll never take it,'” the former president said. “They disparaged the vaccine, and now they wonder why people aren’t wanting to take it? It’s a disgrace.”

SOUTHFIELD, MI - AUGUST 24: Oakland County Health Department emergency preparedness specialist Jeanette Henson fills syringes with doses of the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine on August 24, 2021 at the Southfield Pavilion in Southfield, Michigan. Oakland County is the second county in Michigan to reach the state's goal of vaccinating 70% of its population. (Photo by Emily Elconin/Getty Images)

SOUTHFIELD, MI – AUGUST 24: Oakland County Health Department emergency preparedness specialist Jeanette Henson fills syringes with doses of the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine on August 24, 2021 at the Southfield Pavilion in Southfield, Michigan. (Emily Elconin/Getty Images)

Vice President Kamala Harris told CNN’s Dana Bash in September of 2020 she would be wary of taking the vaccine, alleging Trump would muzzle any scientists who disagreed with him. (RELATED: ANALYSIS: The Left Said It Wouldn’t Trust The Trump Vaccine. Now They’re Shaming The Unvaccinated)

“If past is prologue, they will not, they’ll be muzzled, they’ll be suppressed, they will be sidelined,” Harris said. “Because he’s looking at an election coming up in less than 60 days and he’s grasping for whatever he can get to pretend that he’s been a leader on this issue when he has not.”

“I will say that I would not trust Donald Trump and it would have to be a credible source of information that talks about the efficacy and the reliability of whatever he’s talking about. I will not take his word for it,” Harris said. She later reiterated the statement. If Trump “tells me to take [the vaccine], I’m not taking it,” she said.

Former Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo urged Americans to be skeptical of the vaccine, adding he was “not that confident” in it.

“You’re going to say to the American people, ‘now, here’s a vaccine, it was new, it was done quickly, but trust this federal administration and their health administration that it’s safe, and we’re not 100% sure of the consequences.’ I think it’s going to be a very skeptical American public about taking a vaccine, and they should be.”

MSNBC host Joy Reid also expressed skepticism about the vaccines, noting she feared that its development under Trump was cause for concern.

“When it comes, particularly in our community, black people, they might be like, ‘I don’t trust science.’ Tuskegee experiments, etc. There’s just not a lot of trust and it was developed during the Trump era. I’m worried about both,” Reid said.

President Joe Biden expressed skepticism over the vaccine under Trump, according to Reuters.

“Let me be clear: I trust vaccines, I trust scientists, but I don’t trust Donald Trump. At this moment, the American people can’t either.”

Trump later said the rhetoric was “recklessly endangering lives,” according to Reuters.

Trump told Fox News how unvaccinated Americans “don’t trust this president, and that’s why they’re not taking it.”

Democratic New York Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, however, blamed Republicans on Monday for vaccine hesitancy, according to The Hill.

“From day one of this pandemic, Republicans have rejected reality and embraced political extremism by lying about the effectiveness of vaccines, mask wearing and social distancing. It’s clear Republicans’ recklessness fueled the COVID-19 surge and threatens the health and economic progress President Biden and House Democrats delivered with the American Rescue Plan.”

Trump himself has encouraged Americans to get the vaccine. The former president was booed at an Alabama rally in August after he encouraged Americans to get vaccinated.

“I believe totally in your freedoms. I do. You’ve got to do what you have to do,” Trump said, according to NBC News. “But I recommend take the vaccines. I did it. It’s good. Take the vaccines.”

Members of the crowd began booing, to which Trump responded, “no, that’s OK. That’s all right. You got your freedoms.”

It’s not just Republican Trump-voters who are very reluctant to get the vaccine. Recent data shows black and hispanic Americans are highly skeptical of receiving the jab.

Approximately 75% of Americans have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. An analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a non-profit organization focusing on national health issues, shows black and hispanic Americans have received smaller shares of vaccinations compared to their share of cases. Black and hispanic Americans were also less likely to get the vaccine than white Americans.

The New York Times reported that aside from rural, evangelical Christians, black and latino Americans, as well as some Democrats, make up the other group who are opposed to getting the shot.

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel