Political Irony

Donald Trump is trying to have it both ways, which is interesting because it looks more like Trump’s base is controlling him, rather than the other way around.

Consider that 72% of Democrats have either already received the vaccine, or plan to get it as soon as possible, compared to 39% of Republicans. In fact, the gap has been growing. And Trump has often cast aspersions on vaccines. He falsely linked vaccines in general to autism (including during his 2016 campaign for president).

Even so, Trump and the first lady both got the vaccine in January, but unlike other former presidents, and even his own vice-president, they did not get it on camera. While Trump has been trying very hard to take credit for the development of Covid-19 vaccines (despite the fact that the Pfizer vaccine, the first one developed, received no help from the Trump administration at all), he completely punted on getting people to actually, you know, get the necessary shots.

Because he feels it would alienate his base, Trump hasn’t really encouraged anyone to get a vaccine shot. His plans to get the vaccines actually into people’s arms were basically nonexistent, having been punted to the states, who had no money or people to do it.

As far as anyone can tell, the only time he told anyone to get the vaccine was at CPAC, as an aside during a tirade against Joe Biden. He also didn’t participate in a series of PSAs by former presidents, encouraging people to get vaccinated. And of course, he has always downplayed the need for masks.