Guess who undermined public confidence in vaccines?
Category: News & Politics
Via: just-jim-nc-ttth • 3 years ago • 37 commentsBy: Andrew C. McCarthy (MSN)
Yeah I remember that.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
"The fact that you continue to undermine public confidence in a vaccine, if the vaccine emerges during the Trump administration, I think is unconscionable."
© Getty Images Guess who undermined public confidence in vaccines?
That was then-Vice President Mike Pence's rebuke of his opponent, then-Sen. Kamala Harris, in the campaign's stretch-run, when she was talking down Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administration's zealous initiative to push across the finish line the vaccines that pharmaceutical companies miraculously managed to produce by late 2020.
Harris had stated that any such effort pushed by then-President Trump was untrustworthy. This was consistent with the Biden campaign theme that the Trump administration had been incompetent in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic - a position that morphed, when President Biden took office, into a claim that the Trump team hadn't even had a workable plan on vaccine distribution (a claim so patently false that even Anthony Fauci, director of the Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, denied it).
The vice presidential candidates' debate was Harris's highest-profile appearance of the campaign. She took the opportunity to explain that she would not get a vaccine pushed by Trump. That is what got the habitually placid Pence's dander up. He turned to Harris and memorably admonished, "Stop playing politics with people's lives."
This is a vignette worth keeping in the front of our minds as Biden cynically exploits his bully pulpit against Facebook. The president and his administration are endeavoring to shift blame to the social media giant for the predictable effects of their own demagoguery.
The propagandist-in-chief inveighed against Facebook on Friday for "killing people" by spreading misinformation about the efficacy and potentially damaging side effects of the vaccines. The claim is nearly as shameful as Biden's recent portrayal of state election-procedure reforms (e.g., curbs on drive-thru voting) as the reestablishment of Jim Crow and a threat to democracy on a par with "the Civil War."
Biden's attack on Facebook is reprehensible. Though he won't be called on it by the Democratic media complex, these are outrageous lies comparable to what the president accuses his predecessor of routinely spewing.
The administration is upset because, after his campaign discredited the vaccine effort, Biden over-promised what he could deliver once he took charge of it. He claimed that by Independence Day 70 percent of adult Americans would have received at least one dose of a vaccine. In fact, the Mayo Clinic put the July 4 count at about 55 percent. (It has inched up to 56 percent in the two weeks since, and just under half the eligible population has been fully vaccinated.)
Patently, this is not Facebook's fault. Facebook is a social media platform with billions of users. As a matter of human inevitability, there will be some misinformation on it. That is the nature of speech in a large, pluralistic, free society. It is to be expected of a free-communications medium that is nudged by law to be minimalist in regulating the exchange of information and to avoid content discrimination.
Even so, Facebook has been tireless in informing users about where and when vaccines are available, and in disseminating exhortations that Americans avail themselves of them. It also contends that 85 percent of U.S. Facebook users have been or want to be vaccinated.
There is abundant reason to be skeptical about that claim - really, how would Facebook know? At the same time, it would not be surprising at all if Facebook, as a user community, does in fact have a higher vaccination rate than the nation as a whole on Biden's watch. After all, none of Facebook's principals cavalierly undermined the government's vaccine effort for what they perceived to be a fleeting political advantage. It was Biden officials who did that.
Wholly apart from the cynical campaign rhetoric of Harris and other Democrats, there is the matter of behavior. Long after they were fully vaccinated, Biden and Harris persisted in donning masks at public appearances. Harris and her husband, who is also fully vaccinated, even kissed each other through masks for the consumption of media cameras.
Like the fanatical anti-vaxxers they revile, Biden & Co. were doing their part to politicize masks and vaccines, which is about as foolish as it gets in our deeply divided country. But plainly, Biden's example is more consequential and it sends a powerful signal that undermines his vaccination message.
If you want people to get vaccinated, you set up an incentive framework that imposes the burdens of the epidemic on the unvaccinated. Biden, by contrast, communicated that even after being vaccinated - the main attraction of which is to get back to normal life - Americans should continue to wear masks.
The weird idea behind this was to protect the unvaccinated and avoid shaming them. Of course, the way to protect the unvaccinated was to promote the advantages of vaccination. Biden's approach had ordinary people asking themselves: What is the point of being vaccinated if we are still to be under the yoke of mandates?
The question is all the more pressing because the vaccines are still approved only on an emergency basis, thanks to the supposedly untrustworthy Trump administration. The Biden administration, for all its bombast, hasn't pushed through final approval.
As a result, people who have not been vaccinated are not crazy to ask: Why should I submit to a vaccine whose effects are still being evaluated and whose final, formal approval is still pending, when there is statistically only a small chance that I will die or get seriously ill from COVID-19, and when getting vaccinated may not relieve me of the mandates?
Don't get me wrong. Like many Americans, my wife and I scoured the web looking for available vaccines when they were scarce. We got vaccinated as quickly as we could, and pushed our family to do likewise. I think everyone should get vaccinated, and the faster nearly all of us do, the better off we'll all be.
But like most Americans, I also cherish living in a free republic, where the First Amendment prohibits the government from infringing our free speech rights by threats and actions. It is constitutionally offensive for the Biden administration to harass Facebook - and it would be even if Biden were honestly worried about misinformation on social media, rather than distracting attention from his administration's unclean hands.
On that note, with the delta variant driving a surge of infections (overwhelmingly among the unvaccinated), Democratic-run Los Angeles County has just reimposed the mask mandate on its 10 million residents. Concurrently, the chairman of the Democratic-controlled New York City Assembly is proposing to impose an indoor mask mandate even on those who have been vaccinated - and even as the Big Apple struggles to recover, with tourism dying and businesses in peril, especially those that can't hire help because of Democratic policies that pay people not to work.
If the president and Democrats want to understand their vaccine challenge, they might consider stepping away from social media apps and taking a look in the mirror.
Former federal prosecutor Andrew C. McCarthy is a senior fellow at National Review Institute, a contributing editor at National Review and a Fox News contributor. His latest book is "Ball of Collusion." Follow him on Twitter @AndrewCMcCarthy.
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And she did a sell job STILL not overcome completely. And on BOTH sides of the aisle.
They found out that the sword they weilded against vaccination before the election had another edge to it.
It only took a promise that couldn't be kept.
What promise was that?
Oh, you know, the one Biden made back when seniors were lining up to get vaccinated - the one where he promised to have 70% of adults vaccinated by July 4th.
It's not President' Biden's fault that over half of the republicans and their supporters/enablers won't get the vaccine. It's not his fault that idiots won't get the vaccine . It's not his fault that people who are dead or dying of Co-vid who refused to get the vaccine.
They interviewed this idiot in the hospital who had been there for weeks, on oxygen, who refuses to get the vaccine - he's tired of people shoving it down his throat - the agenda 'forcing people to get the vaccine.' He's/they're fucking idiots.
It's not his fault that those young folks who think they're invincible and won't get Co-vid who are dead or dying or very, very ill.
I notice you conveniently left out Democrats who won't get the vaccine. Why?
Nothing convenient about it - they're not fucking morons and got their vaccines.
Also I see you got your talking points from that idiot alleged doctor Jackson (the Turd Reich's former White House physician who said the trumpturd would live to be 200 if he ate better
) (what shithead 'doctor' says stupid shit like that) talking about that the other day. All of the Democrats in congress have gotten their vaccines and have proof whereas what republicans in congress will admit they got theirs and show proof?
Any Democrat I know is not a fucking idiot and got their vaccines.
So you admit there are Dem fucking idiots. Good for you.
and the last survey I saw said that 30% of Republicans (which is sad but hey, their choice) and 5% of Democrats said the would not get the vaccine. Now take that 5% of just those that voted for Mr. Biden and you have a little over 4,000,000 that will be walking around and may catch it and worst case spread it. If they catch it, are hospitalized, and unfortunately die, tough shit. They had the opportunity. Same goes for the Republicans. If they spread it, hopefully it will only be to those who either had it already and are immune or those who are vaccinated and therefore will only suffer milder symptoms as shown so far.
If they don't get the vaccine, I have no sympathy or caring. Not my problem. It just amazes me the number of people who think they have the right or influence to tell people what they personally need to do. While at the same time, I understand the fear of them spreading it. But if people of all persuasions were smart and fearful of becoming sick, they'd still wear a mask and distance themselves
No, I pointed out to you that the majority of republicans are fucking idiots.
Plus, it's 41% of republicans who refuse to get the vaccine - the fucking idiots.
You're welcome.
I see you read a post by JR the other day.
Correction, his "survey" said 41% don't plan on it. I stand corrected. But that was one survey that he CHOSE to use for his purposes. All the others I have seen from June and early July have it at around 30%
GOP Lawmaker Tries To Shame Democrats On Vaccinations. Except They’re All Vaccinated.
Jackson, a former White House physician, was trying to deflect a question from a reporter about whether it hurts Republicans’ efforts to urge the public to get vaccinated when so many of them won’t disclose their own status.
In fact, as of mid-May, House and Senate Democratic lawmakers have had a 100% vaccination rate, according to a CNN survey of all lawmakers.
That same survey found that at least 44.8% of House Republicans and 92% of Senate Republicans are vaccinated. But 112 GOP offices did not respond to multiple CNN inquiries on their vaccination status.
And I'm not just talking about the republicans in congress - I'm talking about all republicans and the Turd Reich's supporters and enablers.
We were off by a little bit, but You're welcome!
Your 30% is WAY OFF.
You're welcome.
So some "won't say" while the Dems are wearing it like a badge of honor, I wonder if in that survey they actually saw their vaccination cards or if they just took their word(s) for it.
Perhaps some just don't like the intrusion into their personal decisions.
A CBS News-YouGov poll found that 52 percent of Republicans are either fully or partially vaccinated, while 6 percent plan to be vaccinated and 6 percent are undecided. Twenty-nine percent do not plan to be vaccinated, the poll found.
Not for the time............and I can't find anything more recent.
Republicans have been far less likely to get vaccinated than Democrats, according to survey data .
Even if most Republicans aren’t publicly admitting that there’s a shift, the highly transmissible delta variant of the coronavirus seems to have people nervous, according to GOP strategists. The stock market recently tumbled amid concerns about the virus’s resurgent spread, and there are fears of returning to the lockdowns and restrictions of the past year.
Cases are also on the rise in unvaccinated areas ― including many districts represented by Republicans in Congress. That reality may be prompting some lawmakers to push vaccinations with more urgency.
For example, in Plaquemines Parish in Scalise’s district, there has been a 929% increase in COVID-19 cases over a recent 14-day stretch and a 57% jump in hospitalizations.
YOU'RE WELCOME.
Cases are also on the rise in unvaccinated areas ― including many districts represented by Republicans in Congress. That reality may be prompting some lawmakers to push vaccinations with more urgency.
For example, in Plaquemines Parish in Scalise’s district, there has been a 929% increase in COVID-19 cases over a recent 14-day stretch and a 57% jump in hospitalizations.
Who would have thought that? /s
Why wouldn't cases rise in unvaccinated areas? Once again, a painfully obvious "observation" while also redundant
Guess Who Undermined Public Confidence In Vaccines?
trumpturd, (now known as the Turd Reich), and all his supporters/enablers.
Tell us how he did it?
Trump is the one that rushed the vaccines through testing and FDA inspections; and he is the one that undermined them?
Once again the Democrats cannot take responsibility for anything. It is all, "But Trruuummmmppppp"!
Hahahahaha! Now that FoxSnooze is helping spread a more positive vax message the conservative propaganda machine is going to spin the Biden Admin messaging as undermining public confidence?
Ya! That's all they got now so they cling to it! It's desperate and pathetic!
Almost 200,000 Americans are dead since Biden took office Jan. 20 due to the China virus and he’s had the vaccine available the whole time. Now they have a super spreader event in DC and they are spreading covid all over the country by sending covid infected illegal aliens to red states. 900% increase in covid at the border.
See 2.1.2
Surely you must remember that period in time where it was basically "If Trump is for it, I am skeptical and against it" (paraphrased)
Is that an excuse or an admittance?
Could ask the same of you. Were you not paying attention during the height of the disease?
The argument presented here that what Harris said during the primaries is the same as what Biden said about Facebook is pure spin. Harris does have to eat that crow. She did say it and it can't be spun away by the Dems. That has no bearing on today's messaging to get more people vaccinated. Especially now that Fox News has done a 180 on their messaging.
Some people will STILL hang on her words and those presented below in comment 5 from the time and the "trusted" media. The problem being, like walking in on your grandma naked, it can't be unseen and in this case for some, unheard.
Well, it's not just the Biden administration. Don't people remember the queue of scientists, epidemiologists, and medical professionals the anti-Trump media paraded across the airwaves?
The vaccines are being rushed. The testing of the vaccines is inadequate. mRNA vaccines are new haven't been used before. The distribution of the vaccines can't be done safely because of their special requirements. There are reports of allergic reactions. There are reports of blood clots. There are reports of heart inflammation.
The science community, itself, bears some responsibility for vaccine hesitancy. And the Biden administration touts the science. While Trump was President the scientific message concerning vaccines was cautionary. Amazing how a political election can suddenly shift the science. Why is that?
Perfectly summarized.
Not at all, his usual nonsense. Makes no sense. As usual.
I'll take the word of scientists and doctors who are experts in the field. Not nerm.
Your usual nonsense.
Blaming social media for people not getting vaccinated failed and now their scapegoat is Fox News.
What will it be tomorrow? Stay tuned!