Branding the Trump vaccine

Donald Trump has always loved seeing his name emblazoned on things, from hotels and golf clubs to steaks and airlines. But there is one naming opportunity, one blue chip brand, that the former president has assiduously — and astoundingly — ignored: the Trump Vaccine.

Today his favorable rating is stuck at 42.3%, according to an average of national polls, which is 4.5 points below his share of the vote last November. By becoming the chief pitch man for the immunization effort, he could refurbish an image badly battered by his woefully inept handling of the initial Covid-19 outbreak.

Frank Luntz, a Republican pollster who studies inoculation resisters, sketched out a possible Trump strategy for Politico: "Instead of raising money, raise awareness for the vaccine. Deliver straight to the camera a message that says, 'Look. Do it for me. Do it for the country. Do it for the future. Most importantly, do it for yourself.' In the end, he's the reason they would listen."

Trump is rightly proud of his administration's efforts to promote the rapid development of effective vaccines, and at times he's urged his followers to get their shots. "I would recommend it, and I would recommend it to a lot of people that don't want to get it, and a lot of those people voted for me, frankly," he told Maria Bartiromo on Fox News in March.

Immediately, however, he stepped on his own message, adding: "But again, we have our freedoms and we have to live by that and I agree with that, also."

This ambivalence has crippled Trump's ability to lead the pro-vax forces. He and his wife, Melania, did get their own shots — but in secret, not in public, thus undermining his own media strategists. As Politico reported, "They planned on Trump being the vaccine's salesman-in-chief, viewing it as a natural role for a president who cut his teeth hawking real estate and starring on TV."

He didn't follow their plan because he is so consumed with grievance, with re-fighting the last election, with tearing down his successor, that he cannot imagine doing something that helps Biden as well as himself — let alone his unvaccinated acolytes who are still suffering and dying from the virus. In Trump's world, there is no "we," only "me" — and he made that clear in a recent statement assailing the Biden record on vaccinations.

"He's not doing well at all," Trump said. "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."

To the extent that's true, Trump himself is the single biggest reason vaccine resisters don't "trust" the administration, the election results or the news media. Instead of helping pro-immunization efforts, he's doing exactly the opposite: undermining the credibility of the vaccines he helped to produce and discouraging his own followers from enjoying their benefits.

There are many reasons why about 30% of adult Americans still won't get their shots, and the resisters include a significant number of Black people and Latinos — groups who often vote Democratic. It's also true, as Biden insists, that "what the local doctor, what the local preachers, what the local people in the community say" could have a greater impact than any political leader.

Still, the correlation between political and medical attitudes is undeniable. In a recent Monmouth poll, 17% insisted they would never get the vaccine, and of those, "70% either identify with or lean toward the Republican Party, while just 6% align with the Democrats."

The Economist reported, "According to our modelling, the single greatest predictor of whether an American has been vaccinated is whether they voted for Joe Biden or Donald Trump last November."

All of which means there's a great opening here for Trump. "He could have a real impact," former Republican congressman Peter King told Politico. King even suggested a script the former president could use: "You think I would let my daughter get it if I didn't think it was safe? Just because Fauci is for it doesn't mean it's wrong."

"I think it would serve a real purpose," King said, and he's right. But the only "real purpose" Trump has is making sure his followers burn with the same furies and fantasies that continue to fuel his unbounded and unfounded conviction that he really won the election.

So the Trump Vaccine never got branded or marketed. And probably never will.

(EDITORS NOTE: Steven Roberts teaches politics and journalism at George Washington University. He can be contacted by email at stevecokie@gmail.com.)