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Levin writes: "As COVID-19 once again surges around the country, government officials, medical professionals, former bodybuilders, and regular old people who just want the pandemic to end have begged, pleaded, and literally given away money to convince those who have not yet gotten vaccinated to do so. Then you have Donald Trump."

Donald Trump. (photo: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)
Donald Trump. (photo: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)


Donald Trump, Remorseless Asshole, Apparently Won't Encourage People to Get Vaccinated Because It Would Be Doing Biden a "Favor"

By Bess Levin, Vanity Fair

15 August 21


Can’t let that happen.

s COVID-19 once again surges around the country, government officials, medical professionals, former bodybuilders, and regular old people who just want the pandemic to end have begged, pleaded, and literally given away money to convince those who have not yet gotten vaccinated to do so. Then you have Donald Trump. As a former president of the United States—who regularly complains he doesn’t get enough credit for the vaccines—you might think that he would be out there on a daily basis urging Americans to go get their shot, particularly in light of the fact that a large percentage of his base has refused to do so, and suffered grave consequences. But he has not and the reason, like most things regarding Trump, is that he’s an unrepentant asshole who hasn’t done a thing in his life without asking, “What’s in it for me?”

The Daily Beast reports that “despite pleas from multiple friends and advisers,” Trump has repeatedly rebuffed the idea of mounting “anything resembling a real effort to get his supporters vaccinated.” Some have suggested public service announcements. Others have pitched prime-time interviews and speeches on the topic. Yet others have recommended Trump do vaccine drives at his rallies. Some simply suggested his office send out periodic reminders of the importance of getting inoculated.

All of these ideas have been shot down, in part because in Trump’s sick mind, more people getting vaccinated—and thus protected from from a highly contagious disease that has killed nearly 620,000 people in the U.S. to date—would be helping Joe Biden.

…in recent months, Trump has simply said he doesn’t feel he needs to do any “favors” for Biden, given how much Biden is “destroying” the country—and that if Biden wants to ask him to do something, the sitting president is welcome to ask, the sources recounted…. Trump even released a written statement last month sympathizing with anti-vaxxers because, according to Trump, “people are refusing to take the Vaccine because they don’t trust [Biden’s] Administration, they don’t trust the Election results, and they certainly don’t trust the Fake News, which is refusing to tell the Truth.”

The other reason he’s loath to do little more than say he “recommends” getting vaccinated in random interviews before quickly changing the subject, is that Trump believes telling people to get a lifesaving shot will hurt him politically.

According to two of the sources who have spoken to Trump about this, he has occasionally referenced polling and other indicators—such as what he’s seen on TV—that show how the vaccines are unpopular with many of his supporters. This has left the impression with some of those close to Trump that he doesn’t want to push too hard on the subject, so as to not “piss off his base,” one of the two people said.

In poll after poll this year, self-identified Republicans have been out of step with the mainstream of Americans on a number of public health issues related to the coronavirus pandemic, from attitudes towards mask requirements, to vaccine hesitancy, to blatant anti-vaccine posturing. A Morning Consult poll published Wednesday showed approval for local government mask mandates in offices, gyms, and indoor dining areas enjoyed hovering in the low to mid 60 percent range among Americans overall. But the partisan breakdown shows that, despite majorities of independents and Democrats supporting mask mandates, most Republicans are still opposed to them.

Trump’s political operations have, of course, actively encouraged that divide.

On Wednesday afternoon, Team Trump texted supporters asking, “Why haven’t you claimed your ‘FREEDOM PASSPORT’ shirt from President Trump?” The link sends users to a page from WinRed, the Republican fundraising platform, offering a white T-shirt emblazoned with the American flag and the words “THIS IS MY FREEDOM PASSPORT” for a $45 donation.

Though the page itself does not mention the word “vaccines,” as the Daily Beast notes, metadata tags instruct social media platforms to use the headline “FREEDOM PASSPORTS > VACCINE PASSPORTS” when posting the link on Twitter and Facebook.

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