Analysis by US Daily Review News.
Recently the country was shocked to see something on national television that hasn’t happened in years — a current President of the United States of one party endorsing the efforts of the immediate past President of another party. But that is exactly what happened in December when President Joe Biden talked about the successful efforts of President Trump in fast tracking the development of COVID-19 vaccines. Everyone was shocked by this display of true patriotism and unity, including Donald Trump who said he was both “appreciative and surprised.”
Two of the major news companies that seem to exist to torment Trump — MSNBC and CNN — went to lengths to not only acknowledge to magnanimous nature of Biden’s comments, but also that Trump deserved the credit (see videos below).
MSNBC
On the nationally syndicated Price of Business show (partner of this news site), host Kevin Price interviewed former Chief Economist of President Trump’s Council of Economic Advisors, Casey Mulligan. Mulligan revealed how the Trump Administration challenged the way drugs were approved and led to the development of an effective vaccine in months rather than years. Mulligan also discussed how Biden’s cautious and “bureaucratic” approach to governing would likely have added years to the process. The same is true of Hillary Clinton if she had beat Trump in 2016. It is ironic that COVID likely played a role in bringing Trump down, but his reforms at the FDA had the US being the world’s leader in developing a vaccine.
Mulligan went on to say that Trump revolutionized the way medicines were developed in the United States.
Check out the interview in its entirety here.
During much of the time Trump was in office he appeared embarrassed about his COVID-19 vaccine efforts. This is interesting, because like most Presidents of the United States, Trump had a keen interest in winning a Nobel Peace Prize. Jimmy Carter is said to have lobbied for one over the Israel-Egypt peace accords and Reagan was lobbying over ending the Cold War. Trump pursued the Prize because of his own Middle East efforts, leading the way towards several Middle Eastern countries recognizing Israel, but one could argue that his biggest accomplishment was in leading the charge for a vaccine to fight COVID.
But through much of his Administration, Trump said little about the vaccine, appearing to distance himself from the vaccine because the vast majority of his supporters thought COVID was either a lie, the vaccines would eventually kill you, or the vaccines would lead to mind control. It is hard to have a parade of self-promotion when your biggest supporters hate your biggest accomplishment.
But Biden’s recent compliment of Trump’s efforts seems to have had an impact on the former President’s thinking about the vaccine. All of a sudden, he is the vaccine’s biggest booster. In the video from CNN (below) you see Trump provide significant push towards one of the biggest anti-vaccine advocates in his camp, Candace Owens. In the past in such situations, Trump would take a softer, less confident approach. In this exchange he made his views perfectly clear — the vaccines work.
CNN
Many of the most liberal media are now befuddled with Trump’s “new found” love of his vaccine. It is the perception of many that Trump has talked about the vaccine more in recent weeks than he did the entire time he was President. The Daily Beast asks, “Does Trump Dig Vaccines Because He’s Old and Offline?” What is closer to the truth can be found in the Michael Smerconish segment on CNN, when the host suggested that virtually all those that oppose the COVID vaccine are people that voted for Trump overwhelmingly. These same people would likely vote for Trump, no matter his view on the vaccine, because of their disdain of the Democrats.
Meanwhile, many of those that voted against Trump in 2020 did so because of the former President’s odd relationship with the vaccine. Of course, what probably looms larger is Trump’s support of conspiracy theories about the election and his often divisive attitude towards many US citizens. But being bolder in his support of the vaccine that he played a significant role getting developed and approved could significantly change the perceptions of him as we approach 2024.
It will be interesting to see if his latest vaccine talk is a fad or if it becomes a major theme as he considers a run in 2024.
Featured image provided by WhiteHouse.gov.
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