Former President Donald Trump ripped “gutless” politicians who refuse to say whether or not they received the booster shot for COVID-19.
Trump’s comments came in an interview that aired on One America News Network on Tuesday night. While Trump did not mention any names, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has notably dodged questions about whether or not he took the booster shot.
MCCONNELL: RIOT PANEL FINDINGS OF GOP INVOLVEMENT ‘WILL BE INTERESTING’
“Many politicians — I watched a couple of politicians be interviewed, and one of the questions was, ‘Did you get the booster?’ because they had the vaccine, and the answer is ‘yes,’ but they’re not answering it,” he said. “Because they’re gutless. You gotta say it, whether you had it or not.”
Trump also said that he does not believe “young, healthy people” should take the vaccine. He cited his son Barron, 15, whom he said was barely affected when he was infected with COVID-19. The former president also said he did not experience any side effects when he got the vaccine and argued that it saved tens of millions of lives globally.
DeSantis, who said that he received the “normal shot” of the COVID-19 vaccine, avoided a question about whether he got the booster shot in a Fox News interview last December.
Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo: “Have you gotten the booster?”
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL): “So, uh, I’ve done, whatever I did. The normal shot. And that at the end of the day is peoples’ individual decisions about what they want to do.” pic.twitter.com/AJ6XF8UN5V
— The Recount (@therecount) December 19, 2021
Christina Pushaw, a spokeswoman for DeSantis, previously dodged questions from the Orlando Sentinel in October about whether he planned to get the booster. She said she did not have “details to share about the governor’s personal medical decisions.” The Washington Examiner reached out to representatives for both DeSantis and Trump but did not receive a response.
At about the same time DeSantis avoided questions on the booster on Fox News, Trump received boos from some of his supporters after he said he got the booster during a Bill O’Reilly “History Tour” event last December.
Trump defended the vaccine a few days later in an interview with conservative pundit Candace Owens. He received backlash from some of his supporters after that interview. Owens subsequently appeared to defend him, saying that he came from a different generation that was more trusting of traditional sources of information.
NEW – Trump: “You’re playing right into their hands” when you doubt the #COVID19 vaccines.pic.twitter.com/GXmxQVNezF
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) December 20, 2021
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
DeSantis has consistently polled as a top challenger to Trump for the 2024 Republican primary. One poll taken by Yahoo! and YouGov in December had DeSantis finish second to Trump for preferred 2024 Republican nominee. Trump got 44% of the vote, and DeSantis received 23% of the vote. The poll surveyed 1,558 people.
