Donald Trump.Photo: Candace/YouTube
Donald Trumpis again publicly voicing his support of the COVID-19 vaccines, telling controversial right-wing media personality Candace Owens that vaccines “work” and that those who get sick with the virus “are the ones that don’t take the vaccine.”
Owens continued: “So people are questioning how—”
“Oh no, the vaccines work, but some people aren’t the ones taking it,” Trump, 75, interjected. “The ones who get very sick and go to the hospital are the ones that don’t take the vaccine. But it’s still their choice. And if you take the vaccine, you’re protected.”
Trump continued: “Look, the results of the vaccine are very good, and if you do get it, it’s a very minor form. People aren’t dying when they take the vaccine.”
Donald Trump (left), Candace Owens.Candace/YouTube
When asked to comment on vaccine mandates, Trump told Owens: “Well I stand on, forget about the mandates, people have to have their freedom, but at the same time, the vaccine is one of the greatest achievements of mankind.”
The notion that more people have been infected with the virus after the rollout of the vaccines is a common anti-vaccine talking point, though it belies the exponential spread of the virus and the fact that vaccines were not widely available until May.
And while vaccinated individuals aren’t immune to catching the virus at all, their chances of severe illness or death are greatly reduced, as Trump himself noted.
Still, the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines highlighted a political divide in the country, with recent tabulations showing that only 60 percent of Republican adults have gotten one shot of the vaccine (compared with roughly 86 percent of Democratic voters),The New York Timesreports.
In regions of the country that supported Trump, the divide is stark. That same research found that 25 of every 100,000 residents in counties that voted for Trump died of the virus in October, compared with 7.8 per 100,000 in counties that voted overwhelmingly for DemocratJoe Biden.
“If you don’t want to take it, you shouldn’t be forced to take it. No mandates,” Trump said, going on to tout his administration’s “Operation Warp Speed” project, a public-private partnership that supported multiple COVID-19 vaccine candidates to speed up their creation.
“This was going to ravage the country far beyond what it is right now. Take credit for it,” Trump told O’Reilly in his appearance this weekend, adding that the rapid speed at which effective vaccines were developed was “historic.”
A portion of the crowd then began to boo the former president, who responded: “Don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t. No, no— That’s all right. It’s a very tiny group up there.”
An adviser previously said Trumpgot his first COVID vaccine while he was still in office, after he had been hospitalized with the virus.
Trump waspreviously booedat a rally in August after recommending the vaccines.
source: people.com
