Trump’s advisers urge him to make vaccine PSA
With polls showing that about half of Republicans are unenthusiastic about getting a COVID-19 vaccine, some of former President Donald Trump’s advisers are encouraging him to make a public service announcement encouraging his followers to roll up their sleeves, according to two former senior Trump administration officials.
The officials emphasized that vaccine hesitancy among Republicans could threaten herd immunity and Trump’s followers will listen to him — and pretty much only him.
“Vaccines are widely regarded as one of Trump’s greatest accomplishments, and Trump understands that this legacy is at risk because half of his supporters are not taking the vaccine,” one of the officials said. “It’s just not clear yet if he understands that he’s the only one who can fix this.”
The other official agreed. “In Trump country, if you want to call it that, there are still significant numbers of people who aren’t sure [COVID-19] is a real thing, despite folks getting sick, and there are lots of suspicions about the vaccine,” the source said. “They have literally said to me, ‘I want to hear from the president about this.’ I don’t think they’re going to listen to anyone else.”
Trump told Fox News last week that he would make a “commercial” about the vaccine, but did not make a firm commitment.
“They want me to make a video,” Trump said in his April 19 interview with host Sean Hannity. “They want me to do a commercial saying take the vaccine, and they think that’s very important and I’d certainly do it.”
However, a person close to Trump disagreed he should take this approach. “He shouldn’t be pushing these vaccines. His posse isn’t exactly vaccine-approving and it could backfire,” the person said.
A Trump spokesperson declined to comment for this story.
It’s a basic public health principle: Get respected voices — such as politicians, celebrities or athletes — to advocate for a particular public health measure, and others will likely follow.
All the living former presidents besides Trump, and their wives, appeared in an ad campaign rolled out last month encouraging people to get vaccinated. In addition, former President Barack Obama made a video with retired basketball stars Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley called “Roll Up Your Sleeves.”
Trump’s team says he was not asked to participate in the PSA featuring the former presidents, according to a senior Trump adviser.
Trump expressed little interest in joining his predecessors to promote the vaccine, and the team that organized the PSA did not view it as likely that the 45th president would participate, leaving little opening for his inclusion, according to a person close to the project.
In the Fox interview, Trump said, “I encourage them to take it. I do,” referring to his supporters.
However, Trump has actually spoken up only a few times to encourage vaccination.
Trump and his wife, former first lady Melania Trump, were vaccinated before leaving the White House in January. More than a month later, he publicly acknowledged getting the shot.
In a Feb. 28 speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida, Trump told the audience “how unpainful that vaccine shot is, so everybody go get your shot.”
Then last week, Trump advocated for the vaccine in an interview with the New York Post.
“The vaccine is a great thing and people should take advantage of it,” Trump told columnist Michael Goodwin. “Nobody should be forced, we have our freedoms. But I strongly recommend it because it’s a real lifesaver.”