Sarah Sanders praises the 'Trump vaccine' as she encourages the former president's supporters to get the jab in a new op-ed
Donald Trump's former press secretary penned an op-ed on Sunday where she credited the ex-president for the development of the coronavirus vaccine as she demanded President Joe Biden admit he was wrong about Operation Warp Speed.
Sarah Sanders revealed she got the jab and encouraged Trump supporters to do the same, writing in her post in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: 'A few months ago, I decided to take advantage of President Trump's Operation Warp Speed and get vaccinated.'
'Like many of you,' she continued, 'I have had a lot of misinformation thrown at me by politicians and the media during the pandemic. And, like many of you, I spent a lot of time sorting through it all, trying to make the best decision I could for myself and my family.'
Sanders, the daughter of former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, is running for the governor seat in 2022 to replace outgoing Governor Asa Hutchinson.
Trump-era press secretary Sarah Sanders (left) penned an op-ed on Sunday encouraging the former president's supporters to get vaccinated and credited Operation Warp Speed for the swift development of the 'Trump vaccine'
'Read my column in today's @ArkansasOnline on why I decided to get the Trump vaccine,' Sanders promoted on Twitter Sunday. Her post is titled, 'The reasoning behind getting vaccinated'.
'When the Trump administration initiated Operation Warp Speed in May 2020, the president stated that a vaccine would become available by December of that year at the very latest,' Sanders wrote as a nod to her former boss.
'From the moment he made his announcement, the 'expert' class tried to undermine those statements with baseless fear-mongering,' she continued, taking aim at the media and Democrats.
Her op-ed comes after she said Friday that she would not impose any mask mandate or vaccination requirements if elected governor next year.
'We believe in personal freedom and responsibility,' Sanders told the Fox & Friends panel last week.
The comment followed new reporting that the White House is considering implementing mask requirements – even on vaccinated individuals – amid a nationwide surge and the emergence of the Delta variant.
Governor Hutchinson has already signed an Arkansas state legislature bill banning mask mandates, but he has been vocal about encouraging residents of the state to get the jab.
Arkansas health officials reported 2,015 new cases Saturday as the highly contagious Delta variant swept across the state, prompting the state to resume weekend daily updates.
Four more COVID-19 cases required hospitalization, and seven more deaths were reported.
'Well, that was the will of the General Assembly. I signed it,' the Republican governor told CNN's State of the Union on Sunday.
'At that point we had very low case rates in Arkansas and people knew exactly what to do,' he continued. 'They were capable of making their decisions.'
Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson (seen right being interviewed by CNN's Jake Tapper on Sunday) has defended his decision to ban mask mandates in his state even as it reports some of the highest incidences of COVID-19 infections in the country
Since the start of the pandemic, more than 374,000 Arkansans have been infected with coronavirus. More than 6,000 have died
COVID-19 continues to rage through Arkansas, a state which has among the lowest vaccination rates in the United States, as new day-over-day cases topped 2,000 for the first time since February
Arkansas has among the lowest rates of vaccination in the country, according to the latest data
In response to rising nationwide rates, Hutchinson said low vaccination rates are to blame.
'This is a pivotal moment in our race against the COVID virus,' the Republican governor told CNN host Jake Tapper. 'It's important for normalcy. And what's holding us back is a low vaccination rate.'
He reiterated, however, that he made the decision to not allow the government to tell their citizens what they can and cannot do regarding masks and vaccinations.
The vaccination rate has stalled in the U.S. after initial surges in those who were getting inoculated against COVID-19 in the spring.
In May, face coverings and social distancing guidelines were updated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, telling Americans vaccinated individuals could finally unmask after more than a year in the pandemic.
Sanders, however, credits these strides to the former administration.
No comments