On March 1, as public access to COVID-19 vaccines became more common, Donald Trump appeared at a far-right gathering and eventually said the right thing. After insisting that he wanted credit for the development of the vaccines, the former president declared, “So everybody, go get your shot.”
About a week later, the Republican issued a related statement that meandered, and was annoyingly whiny, but which was nevertheless pro-vaccine: Trump called the shots “beautiful” and suggested that “everyone” would be receiving them.
As we’ve discussed, much of the former president’s statement was pitiful — his goal was clearly to seek acclaim for himself, prioritizing his ego over public needs — but the underlying point remained the same: Trump framed the distribution of vaccines as fundamentally a good thing.
Five months later, his position has deteriorated in ways that are likely to prove consequential.
Trump appeared on Fox Business yesterday morning to whine incessantly. “When I was president you didn’t have people protesting the vaccine,” he said, conveniently forgetting that when he was president, the vast majority of Americans did not yet have access to the vaccine. The Republican added, in reference to COVID-19, “When I left it was virtually gone. It was over. It was the past.”
Over 4,000 Americans died from the virus on Trump’s last day in the White House. It was one of the deadliest days of the entire pandemic. For him to believe the crisis was “virtually gone” by mid-January is delusional, even by Trump standards.
But when the on-air conversation turned to booster shots for those who’ve been vaccinated, things got a little weird.
“That sounds to me like the moneymaking operation for Pfizer, okay?” Trump said. “Think of the money involved…. The whole thing is just crazy. It doesn’t — you wouldn’t think you would need a booster. You know, when these first came out, they were good for life.”
First, literally no one in a position of authority ever said the vaccines were “good for life.”
Second, it was a bit jarring to hear the former president laud coronavirus vaccines and blast coronavirus booster shots in the same interview, seemingly indifferent to the contradiction.








