Dewine says Biden ‘made a mistake’ with order
Gov. Mike Dewine criticized President Joe Biden’s sweeping vaccine and testing requirement for large businesses, arguing it further divides people and politicizes the effort to get Americans inoculated.
“I think the president made a mistake,” Dewine said Friday in a radio interview on Cincinnati station 700WLW Friday afternoon. “I don’t think he should’ve done this. It clouds the issue, and we’re going to now be talking about a federal mandate, which no one likes, instead of talking about, ‘Look, here’s the science.’”
Biden said Thursday that his administration will direct employers with 100 or more employees to require
their workforce to get vaccinated or face weekly testing for COVID-19. The move comes as the more contagious delta variant drives a new surge of cases and sends unvaccinated Americans into hospitals.
Dewine continues to encourage Ohioans to get vaccinated and opposes House Bill 248, a controversial bill that would prevent schools, businesses and other institutions from requiring vaccines. But the governor has also said he doesn't plan to mandate vaccines for state employees or the general public.
Nearly 62% of Ohioans ages 12 and older are vaccinated
Nearly 62% of Ohioans ages 12 and older are vaccinated, according to the Ohio Department of Health. That ranks Ohio No. 38 among states, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.
Dewine's comments were more measured than that of other Republican governors, including South Carolina Gov. Henry Mcmaster and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who have pledged to fight the federal mandate. Dewine said he and Attorney General Dave Yost would talk about “the best way” to deal with Biden's order.
“Just weeks ago, the Supreme Court reminded President Biden that he cannot ‘act unlawfully even in pursuit of desirable ends,'” Yost spokeswoman Bethany Mccorkle said in a statement. “He needs another reminder. President Biden, by ordering employees at private companies to either vaccinate, test themselves weekly, or quit, is acting unlawfully again and the President knows it.”
Other Ohio Republicans blast Biden
Meanwhile, business leaders and Republicans in Congress have painted Biden's order as unconstitutional and argue the decision to be vaccinated should be left to individuals.
“While our members firmly believe the COVID-19 vaccines are both safe and effective, we also believe employers should have the autonomy to decide what is best for the health and safety of both their customers and employees,” said Pat Tiberi, president and CEO of the Ohio Business Roundtable. The organization, which represents CEOS of Ohio's largest companies, also opposes House Bill 248.
Candidates for U.S. Senate went further in their opposition, accusing Biden of tyranny and calling on citizens not to comply with the order.
“Don't allow yourself to be bullied and controlled,” author and venture capitalist J.D. Vance said in a statement. “Only mass civil disobedience will save us from Joe Biden's naked authoritarianism.”
Former state treasurer Josh Mandel posted a video from a cornfield on Twitter Thursday night and claimed Biden is “creating a constitutional crisis.”
“When the Gestapo show up at your front door, you know what to do,” he said.
James Pasch, a regional director for the Anti-defamation League that serves Ohio, Kentucky and other neighboring states, said comparing public health orders to Nazi Germany is “beyond the pale” and called on Mandel to apologize.
“Being asked to wear a mask or to take a Fda-approved vaccine in order to stop the spread of a deadly respiratory disease is not equivalent to the actions of the Gestapo in Nazi-era Germany or the systemic annihilation of an entire group of people based on their ethnicity,” Pasch said.
A spokesman for Mandel's campaign did not respond to questions Friday about the tweet.
USA TODAY contributed to this report.
Haley Bemiller is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.