- Presidents Obama, Bush, Clinton and Carter appeared in a vaccine PSA launched on Thursday.
- Trump did not participate in the campaign, although it is unclear whether he was invited.
- He also issued a statement saying “I hope you all remember” that the vaccine would not exist without him.
- See more stories on the Insider business page.
All living American ex-presidents appeared in an advertising campaign telling Americans to be vaccinated against COVID-19, except Donald Trump, who instead issued a statement demanding credit for the vaccine.
On Thursday, the nonprofit advertising board released a public service ad starring Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter.
“This vaccine means hope,” Obama said in the video. “It will protect you and those you love from this dangerous and deadly disease.”
Trump was visibly absent, although it is unclear whether he was asked to join the campaign.
Hours before the campaign aired, however, Trump’s personal office in Florida released a statement in which he took responsibility for the existence of the vaccines.
“I hope everyone will remember, when they are taking the COVID-19 vaccine (often called the China Virus), that if I were not president, you wouldn’t have that beautiful ‘injection’ for 5 years at most, and you probably wouldn’t I hope you all remember! “He said, using a derogatory term for the new coronavirus, which was first found in China.
—Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) March 10, 2021
When asked by Insider whether he had invited Trump to join the PSA, an Advertising Council said the project with the former presidents began last December. The spokesman did not say whether the Advertising Council approached Trump, who at the time was an outgoing president.
The spokesman added that some of the ads were filmed in the possession of President Joe Biden on January 20, which Trump did not attend, having flown to his Palm Beach resort that morning.
Trump said last year that he would receive the vaccine, but did not say when, and did not say whether to follow Biden and former Vice President Mike Pence and get the vaccine live on TV.
However, it was reported earlier this month that Trump and First Lady Melania Trump silently got the vaccine at the White House in January.
President Donald Trump speaks during the “Operation Warp Speed Vaccine Summit” at the White House complex on December 8, 2020.
Evan Vucci / Associated Press
Trump has long claimed responsibility for securing a vaccine for the U.S., despite his vaccine development scheme, Operation Warp Speed, considered a failure that has been surrounded by problems and widely criticized.
Members of the Biden administration said they had not inherited any plans to distribute Trump’s White House coronavirus vaccine, with a source telling CNN that they had to “build everything from scratch”.
Days before Biden’s inauguration, White House press secretary Jen Psaki tweeted that Operation Warp Speed would continue under the Biden administration, but that there was an “urgent need to address the flaws in the Trump team’s approach to delivering the vaccine.”
Biden later called the launch of the vaccine under Trump “a grim failure”.
Trump missed his administration’s goal of administering 20 million doses by the end of 2020 and Biden aims to administer 100 million doses of the vaccine in his first 100 days in office, or until April 30.
Biden’s plan appears to be on track and the vaccine is well underway, prompting states like Texas and Mississippi to abandon mandatory mask use.
However, Biden said the change was premature and an example of “Neanderthal thinking”.