Even as stronger, deadlier variants of the virus that's killed over 600 thousand Americans continue to emerge, certain Republican lawmakers and media personalities continue to smear lifesaving vaccines and efforts to get them administered to as many Americans as possible.
Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin is one of those lawmakers. Johnson has previously said he was "suspicious" of the effort to vaccinate everyone. He's held press conferences rife with disinformation devoted to discouraging people from receiving the vaccine. His efforts saw his home paper describe him as the "most irresponsible representative of Wisconsin citizens since the infamous Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy[.]"
In a recent Fox News interview, however, Johnson came out in favor of vaccine mandates—but with one mind-numbing caveat.
Watch below.
Question: Could you ever get behind a vaccine mandate for everybody? Ron Johnson: No, not unless there’s some incr… https://t.co/DpSHruEc4x— Acyn (@Acyn) 1627701118.0
In an interview with Fox News' Brian Kilmeade if he'd support a vaccine mandate, Johnson said:
"No, not unless there's some incredibly deadly disease. I mean, much higher infection and fatality rates than we have with COVID."
To date, the virus death toll in the United States is at 629,391, while the global death toll is over four million. With an insufficient number of residents vaccinated, new strains of the virus can become more transmissible and more deadly.
People were livid at Johnson's dismissal of the threat posed by the virus.
This one is going to end up killing more Americans than the civil war. https://t.co/PUCnYat4qy— southpaw (@southpaw) 1627761465.0
According to the World Health Organization, COVID has already killed at least 4.2 *million* people. https://t.co/8s8s6wWYph— David Priess (@David Priess) 1627728234.0
630,000 dead bodies isn’t deadly enough for republicans like Ron Johnson https://t.co/64Fh5VCC83— Benjamin Dixon (@Benjamin Dixon) 1627738126.0
Third biggest mass casualty event in US history... but apparently not deadly enough for Ron Johnson of the Pro-Life… https://t.co/pHf8fXn44S— Brian Tyler Cohen (@Brian Tyler Cohen) 1627752505.0
Newsflash, there is a deadly disease. https://t.co/Gj49VeTvaG— Elizabeth Thorp (@Elizabeth Thorp) 1627707975.0
His response was panned across the internet.
A pound of hamburger meat in a coat and tie could give a more intelligent response. https://t.co/biYOIcpJF0— Zombie Prof Bill B (@Zombie Prof Bill B) 1627752204.0
My brain just imploded. https://t.co/fx1XNKZNco— Spiro Agnew’s Ghost (@Spiro Agnew’s Ghost) 1627701380.0
Ron Johnson is completely detached from reality in that way that only too much money can buy. @TheWorstSenator https://t.co/w5lHMucJhk— 𝕮𝖔𝖚𝖓𝖙 𝕮𝖍𝖔𝖓𝕶𝖚𝖑𝖆 (@𝕮𝖔𝖚𝖓𝖙 𝕮𝖍𝖔𝖓𝕶𝖚𝖑𝖆) 1627771704.0
Johnson continues to promote vaccine skepticism.