For weeks, right-wing lawmakers and media personalities have embraced skepticism of vaccines whose safety and effectiveness has been proven to dramatically slow the spread of the virus that's killed over 600 thousand Americans.
Now, as stronger, deadlier variants of the virus have led to stratospheric increases in cases, some right-wing figures are trying to convince their voters to potentially save their lives by getting the vaccine.
Now, former President Donald Trump's second White House press secretary and current candidate for Governor of Arkansas, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, is joining that chorus.
In a new op-ed for the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, Sanders elaborated on why she chose to get vaccinated, heaping praise upon her former boss for its rollout.
She writes:
"What I found was simple: Dr. Fauci and the 'because science says so' crowd of arrogant, condescending politicians and bureaucrats were wrong about more than their mandates and shutdowns that have inflicted incalculable harm on our people and economy. They also misjudged the Trump vaccine plan, which rolled out just as safely, quickly, and effectively as the Trump administration promised."
She went on to slam President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, suggesting the lagging vaccination rate was due to giving insufficient credit to Trump:
"If President Biden, Vice President Harris, and others on the left truly care about increasing the vaccination rate and saving lives, they should admit they were wrong to cast doubt on Operation Warp Speed and give President Trump and his team the credit they are due for the development of a safe and effective vaccine in record time."
While the need for unvaccinated people to take the vaccine is undisputed, people took issue with Sanders's argument.
This is a ridiculously partisan, pathetically puerile piece, but maybe it\u2019ll help. \n\nSanders admits she got vaccinated \u201cmonths\u201d ago \u2014 just like every talking head on Fox and all the other GOP elites who don\u2019t care about the unwashed masses until they start dying and can\u2019t vote.https://twitter.com/SarahHuckabee/status/1419340008079646720\u00a0\u2026— Angry Staffer (@Angry Staffer) 1627243194
You are not fit to serve in any office.https://twitter.com/SarahHuckabee/status/1419340008079646720\u00a0\u2026— Richard Signorelli (@Richard Signorelli) 1627238936
Arkansas, we deserve better\u2026\u2026.https://twitter.com/sarahhuckabee/status/1419340008079646720\u00a0\u2026— Travelle McManus (@Travelle McManus) 1627253937
Don\u2019t read Sarah\u2019s column. I actually feel dumber having read it.https://twitter.com/SarahHuckabee/status/1419340008079646720\u00a0\u2026— Along Came Trisha (@Along Came Trisha) 1627249064
.@ArkansasOnline should issue a correction to this article that falsely claims VP Harris said she wouldn\u2019t take the vaccine in 2020. It\u2019s another lie from Sarah Sanders.\n\nHarris simply said she wouldn\u2019t take the vaccine *on Trump\u2019s word alone* (and neither would any sane person).https://twitter.com/sarahhuckabee/status/1419340008079646720\u00a0\u2026— Kaivan Shroff (@Kaivan Shroff) 1627246172
But even her critics said that if heaping praise upon Trump results in more vaccinations, so be it.
Honestly, if they need to call it the Trump vaccine to save face, I\u2019m fine with that. Whatever gets life back to normal.https://twitter.com/sarahhuckabee/status/1419340008079646720\u00a0\u2026— Brianna Wu (@Brianna Wu) 1627263391
If someone is so disillusioned that they want to call it the \u201cTrump vaccine\u201d in order to take it, so be it. I\u2019d rather have disillusioned vaccinated people than unvaccinated people intentionally spreading the disease giving it opportunities to mutate into new variants.https://twitter.com/sarahhuckabee/status/1419340008079646720\u00a0\u2026— \ud83d\udc54Dan Whitfield For US Senate 2022 (@\ud83d\udc54Dan Whitfield For US Senate 2022) 1627235884
If the branding works, I\u2019m all for it.https://twitter.com/sarahhuckabee/status/1419340008079646720\u00a0\u2026— Neil Katz (@Neil Katz) 1627307590
The op-ed comes just days after Sanders vowed not to enforce basic safety guidelines, like mask mandates, if the Delta variant continues to spiral out of control among the unvaccinated.
