Alejandra Ramos Barreda
(CNN) – There are things that former President Donald Trump wants to talk about, like vaccines, and others that he would rather keep quiet, like what exactly happened in the White House before January 6.
This week, Trump spoke publicly about COVID-19 vaccines, supporting them to his supporters, correcting some misinformation and making it clear that they are a protection against COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths.
Trump (now) promotes the effectiveness of the vaccine against covid-19
He is also seeking personal credit for the development of the vaccines. And he told his followers that they should get vaccinated, even when he agrees that they should have the right not to.
When conservative podcast host Candace Owens raised questions about the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine during an interview with Trump, he corrected her.
“Well, no, the vaccine works,” he said.
“Those who become seriously ill and need hospitalization are those who do not get vaccinated. But it is still their choice, and if you get vaccinated, you are protected. “
Owens released excerpts from the interview days after Trump faced a wave of boos from his supporters when he mentioned in a question-and-answer session with former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly that he had received a booster shot.
Trump: Covid-19 vaccine works 0:59
The two have been on tour with events in Florida and Texas. But, boos from a friendly crowd and rejection of the vaccine suggest that there is a disagreement on the Covid-19 issue between Trump and some conservatives.
President Joe Biden and Trump even had kind words for each other on the issue of vaccines this week.
“Thanks to the previous government and our scientific community, the United States is one of the first countries to receive the vaccine,” Biden said at the White House.
Trump admitted to Fox News that he was “surprised” and “grateful.” And, at least at the time, it was difficult for him to criticize Biden.
Imagine if Trump had taken that position in favor of vaccines a few months ago, thus generating confidence about them instead of making statements like this:
“People refuse to get vaccinated because they don’t trust their administration, they don’t trust the election results and they certainly don’t trust fake news, which they refuse to tell the truth,” he said in a statement in July when the delta variant took strength.
Vaccines prevented more than 1 million deaths from covid-19 and more than 10 million hospitalizations in the US, study estimates
Trump has previously encouraged Americans to get vaccinated, but has not actively or persistently promoted it. In fact, he kept his own vaccination a secret until after he left office.
CNN’s Veronica Stracqualursi and David Wright note that Trump “frequently politicized the development and distribution of vaccines and told The Wall Street Journal in September that he was unlikely to receive a booster dose. It was also inconsistent in promoting science-backed recommendations to slow the spread of the virus. It even promoted unproven treatments for covid-19 “.
Now, however, he is taking all the credit.
“I came out with a vaccine, with three vaccines. They are all very, very good. I dated three of them in less than nine months, ”he told Owens.
These are the US states with the highest and lowest rates of vaccination against covid-19
Unfortunately, his earlier attitude likely influenced, or was influenced by, distrust of vaccines among Republicans.
Four in 10 Republicans remain unvaccinated, and far fewer have received the booster dose, according to November data from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
While most Republicans, like most Americans, are fully or partially vaccinated, it is also true that the majority of unvaccinated Americans belong to or lean towards the Republican Party, according to CNN’s Ariel Edwards-Levy. She cites research suggesting that even Trump’s endorsement will not change the minds of those who resist.
A much larger portion of Republicans ––72% in a recent NPR / PBS NewsHour / Marist poll–– may have been influenced by Trump’s conspiracy theory of the 2020 election. And he’s not confident the results are accurate. .
The electoral lie may be Trump’s favorite topic to speak publicly. And vaccines are something he will now defend.
But he’s also trying to keep a few other things quiet this week. His lawyers asked the Supreme Court to protect him from handing over documents and communications related to the January 6 insurrection.
The House of Representatives commission investigating the insurrection is prepared, after judicial victories, to obtain the documents from the National Archives.
However, this Thursday Trump asked the magistrates of the highest court to demand that they respect his executive privilege, despite the fact that he is no longer in office.
ANALYSIS | How the Congressional Commission Investigating the Jan.6 Insurrection Finally Exposed Trump’s Empire of Lies
Trump wants to keep about 700 pages of documents secret, according to the CNN report. Among them “activity logs, schedules, speech notes, and three pages of handwritten notes from then-White House Secretary General Mark Meadows, documents that could reveal what happened inside the West Wing when Trump supporters gathered. in Washington and then invaded the US Capitol, disrupting the certification of the 2020 vote. “
Breaking with recent tradition, Biden has refused to assert executive privilege on Trump’s behalf.
Although he wants to keep the documents sealed, Trump continues to speak out, whenever he can, about his fantasy that the 2020 election was stolen from him. There was a fascinating report from The Washington Post on Thursday about how Trump’s lie has been unraveling. At the local and state level, as election skeptics push for more and new recounts, even in states that Trump easily won.
That’s a worrying trend for American democracy as election officials gear up for the 2022 midterm elections, when Republicans are expected to regain control of the House of Representatives and look forward to the 2024 presidential election, which well could file a Trump vs. Biden.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2021 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.
–
