A vile new Trump-GOP claim about vaccines suggests trouble ahead

[LetMyPeopleVote]

In order to prove your loyalty to trump, you have to skip being vaccinated and offer to die for this asshole

Link to tweet

“People are refusing to take the Vaccine because they don’t trust his Administration,” the former president said in a statement Sunday, referring to President Biden. “They don’t trust the Election results, and they certainly don’t trust the Fake News.”

There you have it: Trump is telling his supporters that they are correct not to trust the federal government on vaccines, because this sentiment should flow naturally from their suspicion that the election was stolen from him. Expressing the former has been magically transformed into a way to show fealty to the latter.

This suggests the anti-vaccine mania on the right may only get worse, at exactly the moment that we need it to get better. This vile new Trump claim hints at how this is likely to happen, with the complicity of even relatively responsible Republicans.

We’re seeing a new surge in coronavirus cases due to the delta variant and the lag in vaccinations, with new cases overwhelmingly concentrated among the unvaccinated. Both trends — surging cases and lagging vaccinations — are unfolding primarily in red states.

It’s bad enough that Trump has now recast the question of whether to trust the federal government on vaccines as a proxy for whether the election was stolen from him. What makes this worse is that other Republicans are playing a version of this game.

to be a loyal TFG supporter you have to be willing to die for him

[KarenS]

1. oh good grief,,,, If I said outloud what I'm thinking,,,,

you all would think I am a real jerk,,,,, but I am a jerk about TFG and his minions.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

3. From the Hoarse Whisperer

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[empedocles]

2. Like the conflict between a fox douchey, and trump. Vote erosion on both sides.

'Plague o' both their houses' - mercutio

[LetMyPeopleVote]

4. Trump's rhetoric on vaccines takes a dramatic turn for the worse

This is scary. TFG wants his supporters to die in order show that they believe the Big Lie about election results.

Link to tweet

Four months later, the Republican's message has taken a dramatic turn for the worse. Trump issued this written statement yesterday:

"Joe Biden kept talking about how good of a job he's doing on the distribution of the Vaccine that was developed by Operation Warp Speed or, quite simply, the Trump Administration. He's not doing well at all. He's way behind schedule, and people are refusing to take the Vaccine because they don't trust his Administration, they don't trust the Election results, and they certainly don't trust the Fake News, which is refusing to tell the Truth."

....In July, Trump's new message implicitly suggests that only those who believe President Biden, election results, and independent news organizations are getting the shots.

As infection numbers inch higher, this is plainly dangerous. The more vaccinations are politicized, the more it undermines public health.

Also note the degree to which Trump is blaming Biden for far-right vaccine opponents' refusals. The rhetoric introduces the possibility of a twisted incentive: Those who want to keep the Democratic White House "behind schedule" suddenly have another reason to avoid vaccinations.

[dalton99a]

7. +1

[Stuart G]

5. Trump never stops..Never!!...Thank You for Posting This Article..K and R

[LetMyPeopleVote]

6. Fareed's Take: Why America's anti-vax problem is unique