In the years following his defeat in the 2020 election, Donald Trump appeared eager, if not desperate, to brag about his role in the development of the Covid vaccine. There was, however, one nagging problem: His MAGA base wouldn’t let him.
After a handful of incidents in which Trump was audibly booed by his own followers at public events, the Republican conceded that “vaccine” was a word that he was “not allowed to mention.”
This tension between what Trump wanted to say and what his supporters wanted to hear has led the president in some incoherent directions, including in recent days.
Last week, state health officials in Florida announced plans to eliminate “all” vaccine requirements in public schools, despite their efficacy, popularity and track record. Two days later, the president suggested he was not on board with the change. NBC News reported:
Trump appeared to defend the use of certain unspecified vaccines, saying the ones that are ‘not controversial at all’ should be used when asked about efforts in Florida to roll back vaccine mandates. ‘I think you have to be very careful when you say that some people don’t have to be vaccinated. It’s a very, you know, it’s a very tough position,’ Trump said.
At a White House event, the president added: “You have vaccines that work. They just pure and simple work. They’re not controversial at all, and I think those vaccines should be used.”
He went on to say, “The polio vaccine I think is amazing. A lot of people think that Covid is amazing. … When you don’t have controversy at all, I think people should take it.”
At face value, Trump apparently wanted to have it both ways: He seemed eager to signal to the public that he supports safe, effective and popular lifesaving vaccines, while at the same time, the president lent his support to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a notorious anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist who is helping put new hurdles between Americans and vaccinations. It was against this backdrop that Trump made matters just a bit worse, three days stating that vaccines work, “pure and simple.” NBC News reported: Trump posted an undated video clip on Truth Social of anti-vaccine activists Mark and David Geier discussing thimerosal in vaccines with the text on the clipped video reading: ‘They’re ALL poison. Every. Single. One.’ David Geier has been leading an inquiry within the Department of Health and Human Services, at the direction of Trump and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., into debunked assertions of a link between vaccines and autism. Why would the president amplify an anti-vaccine video just days after offering public support for vaccines? He didn’t say. The bottom line, however, remains the same: There’s no point in looking for coherence in Trump’s position on the public health issue, because his position is all but certain to change again soon.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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