Former President Donald Trump said in an interview on Tuesday that he would recommend that everyone get the Covid-19 vaccine – a major discourse shift because Republicans are skeptical about it.
“I would recommend it and I would recommend it to a lot of people who do not want to get it, and a lot of people honestly vote for me,” Trump told Fox News.
However, he added: “But you know, again, we have our freedoms and we have to live by them and I also agree with that.”
Trump’s remarks come because recent polls suggest that the largest group of Americans are hesitant about the Covid-19 vaccine, or that they are directly opposed to it, being Republicans. A recent NPR / PBS / Marist found that 47 percent of Trump voters and 41 percent of Republicans said they would not get the vaccine if it was available to them.
His remarks also come after it came to light earlier this month that he and former first lady Melania Trump quietly received the Covid-19 vaccine at the White House in January. It is not clear what kind of vaccine they received, and it was not announced by the Trump White House at the time. The official White House photographer was also not present to document the event.
The former president, whose administration has been criticized for his vaccine deployment plan, boasted during a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in February about how he pressured officials to have the vaccine developed during Operation Warp Speed. He also requested participants to be vaccinated, although he did not disclose that he had received the vaccine.
Four of Trump’s predecessors, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, got their shots in public along with every first lady.
