On Sept 16, 2020, Joe Biden said, “I trust vaccines, I trust scientists, but I don’t trust Donald Trump. Governor Jay Inslee, D-Washington said, “There isn’t one single thing I would trust from Donald Trump.” (KTLA, Sept 19, 2020). Statements like these caused a climate change we are still dealing with today-a change from that of trust with polio and other vaccines to a climate of suspicion and doubt.
CNN earlier on Sept. 3, 2020, using unnamed sources, claimed Trump pressured health officials to approve the vaccines to influence voters thereby assuring his re-election. Candidate Kamala Harris, in a CNN interview was asked if scientists would get the last word on the safety of the vaccines. She said, “If past isn’t prologue, they will not, they’ll be muzzled, they’ll be suppressed, they’ll be sidelined.”(CNN, Carolyn Kelly, Sept 5, 2020). Without any involvement in the process, Harris just made matters worse.
As recently as June 2, Biden announced a “summer of freedom” urging people to reach a 70 percent adult vaccination goal by July 4 (New Yorker, Benjamin Wallace-Wells, Aug 12, 2021). Apparently the vaccine was safe now that Joe, not Trump, was in the White House.
USA Today Editor-in-Chief Nicole Carroll wrote the questioning of authority in times of crisis was not un-patriotic, but that was when Trump was President (March 27, 2020). It should then be no surprise Biden’s popularity is sinking. Polls are also showing distrust of the CDC (Gallup, Jeffrey Jones, Sept 7, 2021). Americans must be noticeably wary if ABC News reports “Biden sows confusion when preempting FDA, CDC on booster shots” (Leandra Bernstein, Sept 7, 2021).
Last year, desperate to counter Trump’s efforts to get a safe vaccine, Democrats didn’t hesitate to question the vaccine. Now this year, desperate to slow the latest viral surge, they again will say or do anything. That includes broad mandates or offering in exchange for vaccinations: lottery tickets, free beer, sports tickets, cash and paid leave (AP News, Zeke Miller, June 2, 2021).
What would leftists be saying about vaccines if Trump had won? Would Adam Schiff be calling for Trump’s impeachment, blaming him for the surge of the D variant? The answer to all these questions can be traced back to the words of the progressive ex-Mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, who said, “Never let a crisis go to waste.”
Please remember that at the next election.
Ralph Miller