Just a jab away?
He should have known better.
Our most recent ex-president flew into the belly of the anti-vaxxer beast 鈥� Alabama 鈥� and he let the folks down there know he鈥檚 gotten a jab or two.
鈥淚 recommend, take the vaccines. I did it. It鈥檚 good. Take the vaccines,鈥� Mr. Trump announced during a packed-to-the-rafters campaign-style speech in Cullman, Ala.
A loud rebuke could be heard in the boos that could be heard cascading throughout the hall.
Then, Trump did what any ex-president would do while campaigning for president 10 months after he lost the election.
He collapsed under the will of his detractors.
鈥淣aw. That鈥檚 OK. You got your freedoms. But I happen to take the vaccine,鈥� he sheepishly replied. That鈥檚 because he knows the word 鈥渇reedoms,鈥� is a convenient buzzword for deeply conservative, mostly unvaccinated Alabamans.
That鈥檚 the life of a guy trying desperately to maintain relevancy when only a snippet of his speech (that one about the boos and his vaccination) would make it onto national news networks that night.
Throughout Conservative America, vaccines and vaccine mandates are still dirty words.
A couple of days after Trump鈥檚 speech in Alabama, the FDA gave the Pfizer vaccine its full certification.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think there is any other medicine in the world that has been studied so intensively,鈥� said Pfizer鈥檚 CEO, Albert Bourla.
And there鈥檚 a strong hint that certifications for the other vaccines (Moderna and Johnson & Johnson) won鈥檛 be far behind.
That could be good news for some vaccination holdouts.
According to a recent Morning Call poll, 39% of unvaccinated people claim they鈥檇 get vaccinated after FDA approvals.
Don鈥檛 count on that.
There鈥檚 a fervent resistance to vaccines among Republicans/conservatives. They should call that, Acute Neuro-cranial Solidity 鈥� or extreme hard-headedness.
A new NBC News/Hart Research Associates/Public Opinion Strategies poll indicates that the lowest self-reported rate of vaccinations is among people who voted for Donald Trump in 2020.
Only 50% of Trump鈥檚 supporters say they鈥檝e been vaccinated.
Ironically, that same poll indicated that Black Americans are the racial group with the highest number (76%) of people who claim they鈥檝e gotten some form of vaccination.
That blows up one common right-wing talking point.
Another right-wing talking point is that our Founding Fathers would鈥檝e never approved of an inoculation mandate.
One of our Founding Fathers, George Washington, was the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army when he wrote this interesting letter on Feb. 6, 1777.
鈥淔inding the smallpox to be spreading much and fearing that no precaution can prevent it from running through the whole of our army, I have determined that troops shall be inoculated,鈥� he wrote. (NOTE: The inoculation process then was called variolation.)
While the FDA is busily certifying lifesaving, pandemic-thwarting vaccines, it鈥檚 also warning some folks to avoid using alternative methods of preventing COVID-19.
鈥淵ou are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y鈥檃ll. Stop it,鈥� became a U.S. Food and Drug Administration Tweet in response to those (dumb) vaccine skeptics who鈥檙e choosing, instead, to treat themselves with livestock dewormer.
You can credit Fox News personalities Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, and Laura Ingraham for mentioning Ivermectin (a livestock dewormer) as a method of treating COVID-19.
Up in South Dakota, though, the Republican governor, Kristi Noem, is making sure she keeps her presidential aspirations in full view.
She鈥檚 challenging President Biden to lay off of the (as yet to exist) presidential vaccine mandates: 鈥淚f @joebiden illegally mandates vaccines, I will take every action available under the law to protect South Dakota from the federal government,鈥� she said in a Tweet.
Well, that鈥檚 rich.
South Dakota already has immunizations against poliomyelitis, diphtheria, pertussis, measles, rubella, mumps, tetanus, meningitis, and varicella (chickenpox) on the books.
Noem鈥檚 grand standing.
She鈥檚 going to take on the president, who doesn鈥檛 exactly seem to be raring to roll out a vaccine mandate in South Dakota or anywhere else.
It makes her seem tough.
But it also seems as if she鈥檚 saying, 鈥淚鈥檓 not going to let COVID-19 kill you. Not when I can do that myself.鈥�
Edward A. Owens is a multi-Emmy Award winner, former reporter, and anchor for Entertainment Tonight, and 40-year TV news and newspaper veteran. E-mail him at freedoms@bellatlantic.net.