Donald Trump was met with a smattering of boos when publicly announcing that he has received his COVID-19vaccine booster.
The former president’s booster confirmation was delivered during an event in Dallas, Texas with former Fox News personality Bill O’Reilly.
“Both the president and I are vaxxed and, uh, did you get the booster?” O’Reilly is seen saying as he turns to Trump, who’s seated on the stage next to him. “Yes,” Trump responded, at which point you can hear pushback from some in the crowd. O’Reilly, who was let go from his Fox News gig amid sexual harassment allegations back in 2017, also confirmed that he too has received the booster.
As seen in footage shared by O’Reilly’s No Spin News account, Trump responded to the crowd noise by saying the word “don’t” repeatedly. Later, as seen in another clip, he urged his supporters to “take credit” for the vaccine.
“This was going to ravage the country far beyond what it is right now,” Trump said. “Take credit for it, take credit for it. What we’ve done is historic. Don’t let them take it away. Don’t take it away from ourselves. You’re playing right into their hands when you’re sort of like, ‘Oh, the vaccine.’” However, in the same breath, Trump also expressed a lack of support for vaccine mandates.
In response to the clip, Dr. Anthony Fauci—President Biden’s chief medical adviser whose prior tensions with Trump were well-documented—commended the former POTUS for taking the correct public stance on boosters after previously declining to do so.
“I’m very pleased that he did say that and come out publicly and say that he has been vaccinated and boosted,” Fauci said during an interview with CNN. “But to get booed for saying that just tells you about the extraordinary divisiveness we have going into this public health issue which should be devoid of divisiveness.”
What makes the moment even more notable is that Trump had previously said that he likely wouldn’t get a booster shot. Maggie Haberman asked the former president why he changed his mind, and he had this to say:
“Must tell the truth,” he replied in a letter. “And very proud to have produced the three vaccines so quickly.”
Whether assessments of that divisiveness speak to you personally or not, getting vaccinated and boosted remains an integral aspect of moving forward in the pandemic era, which now counts Omicron as the leading variant here in the States.
If you’ve not yet secured your vaccine, or if you’re already vaccinated and now simply lack a booster dose, click here to swiftly get the ball rolling. The vaccines are indeed safe, effective, and free. And if anyone tries to charge you for the vaccine or any vaccine-related service, here’s a helpful breakdown on how to respond to such scam efforts.
