Coronavirus vaccine skeptics who voted for Donald Trump are criticizing the former president for urging Americans to get vaccinated.
How we got here: Trump appeared on “Fox News Primetime” on Tuesday and touted the efficacy of the COVID-19 treatment, telling Fox News host Maria Bartiromo it’s a “safe vaccine.”
- Trump’s remarks came amid a climate of intense vaccine skepticism from many of his supporters.
- According to a NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll released last week, 47% of Trump’s supporters said they would not get a vaccine if one is made available to them.
- “I would recommend it and I would recommend it to a lot of people that don’t want to get it and a lot of those people voted for me, frankly,” Trump told Bartiromo on Tuesday.
The reaction: In a recent radio segment, Infowars founder Alex Jones – a staunch supporter of Trump – slammed the former president for promoting the vaccine.
- Also: Trump voters interviewed by CNN this week, in a county where 92% of residents cast their ballots for Trump, expressed profound disappointment with the former president’s pro-vaccine comments.
- “Trump is a liberal New Yorker. Why would we listen to him either?” said one man, who admitted to voting for Trump in the last election.
- CNN reporter Gary Tugman struggled to find Boise City, Oklahoma residents who said they thought it was a good idea to take the vaccine, with one man explaining: “Well, I don’t trust the government.”
