Former President Donald Trump said during an interview on Tuesday that he would recommend everyone to receive the Covid-19 vaccine – a significant change in speech, as Republicans express skepticism about getting it.
“I would and would recommend it to many people who don’t want to get it, and many of those people voted for me frankly,” Trump said on Fox News, calling it “a great vaccine.”
However, he added: “But you know, again, we have our freedoms and we have to live for it and I agree with that too.”
Trump’s comments come at a time when recent polls suggest that the largest group of Americans who hesitate about or oppose the Covid-19 vaccine are Republicans, and efforts to reach them are only in their infancy. A recent NPR / PBS / Marist found that 47 percent of Trump voters and 41 percent of Republicans said they would not receive the vaccine when it was made available to them.
His comments were also made after it was revealed earlier this month that he and former First Lady Melania Trump had quietly received the Covid-19 vaccine at the White House in January. It is unclear what type of vaccine they received and were not disclosed at the time by the Trump White House. The official White House photographer was also not present to document the event.
The former president, whose government was criticized for his vaccine distribution plan, boasted during a speech in February at the Conservative Political Action Conference about how he pressured authorities to develop the vaccine under Operation Warp Speed. He also asked participants to get vaccinated, although he did not reveal that he received the vaccine.
Four of Trump’s predecessors, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, received their photos in public with each first lady.
