sarah huckabee sanders
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’ll help. Sanders admits she got vaccina… https://t.co/o0NpBr4kxf— Angry Staffer (@Angry Staffer) 1627243194.0
You are not fit to serve in any office. https://t.co/S2DFCdB0B0— Richard Signorelli (@Richard Signorelli) 1627238936.0
Arkansas, we deserve better……. https://t.co/Zml28YCr91— Travelle McManus (@Travelle McManus) 1627253937.0
.@ArkansasOnline should issue a correction to this article that falsely claims VP Harris said she wouldn’t take the… https://t.co/rpcM5Lc1QO— Kaivan Shroff (@Kaivan Shroff) 1627246172.0
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’m fine with that. Whatever gets life back to no… https://t.co/HnzYPYvYXv— Brianna Wu (@Brianna Wu) 1627263391.0
If someone is so disillusioned that they want to call it the “Trump vaccine” in order to take it, so be it. I’d rat… https://t.co/1GzfGAjtKG— 👔Dan Whitfield For US Senate 2022 (@👔Dan Whitfield For US Senate 2022) 1627235884.0
If the branding works, I’m all for it. https://t.co/oMb7LE2qpS— Neil Katz (@Neil Katz) 1627307590.0
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.