The Truth About Donald And Melania Trump Getting The COVID-19 Vaccine

On March 1st, 2021, Maggie Haberman of the New York Times tweeted that an adviser to former President Donald Trump told her that the ex-president and former first lady Melania Trump received COVID-19 vaccines prior to leaving the White House in January 2021. The former president recently made headlines while speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference, better known as CPAC, in sunny Orlando, Florida. In true Trump fashion, he riled up the crowds while doling out many controversial statements during his speech, but he also shocked some of his own supporters when he seemed to be in support of the vaccine. During CPAC, Donald Trump took his comments on the vaccine one step further when he encouraged the audience to get their shots — a move that some might consider dicey while in the midst of a crowd overwhelmingly full of conservatives. Recent data by online opinion polling and data analytics company Civiqs shows that Republicans are the least likely to want the coronavirus vaccine. This was definitely an interesting call-to-action by Trump, considering the CPAC audience. It should be noted, however, that in December 2020, Trump faced scrutiny after some accused him of waiting to get the shot until the Pfizer vaccine was released. Former Surgeon General Jerome Adams defended Trump, publicly citing a "medical reason" for the delay, according to CBS News. According to Adams, Trump opted to hold off on the vaccine due to undergoing an antibody treatment after testing positive for the virus in the fall. While some were pleasantly surprised that Trump was finally encouraging his loyal fanbase to get the COVID-19 vaccine, others criticized him for being "too little too late." They also took issue with his decision to get the vaccine behind closed doors as opposed to doing it publicly and perhaps instilling confidence in some of the vaccine's skeptics, a large number of those people being his own supporters. Meanwhile, many high-profile public servants chose to publicize their experience while receiving the coronavirus vaccine. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were administered the vaccine on live television, and former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton offered to get the vaccine publicly as well, to show their vote of confidence in the shot. But as you may recall, this isn't exactly the first time Trump has shared his opinion about vaccines. As reported by the New York Times, way back in 2009, Trump made false remarks about many routine childhood vaccines and even seemingly linked them to autism spectrum disorder, or ASD, which affects the nervous system. Trump called in to the Fox News show Your World with Neil Cavuto, and told the host, "I think the vaccines can be very dangerous. And, obviously, you know, a lot of people are talking about vaccines with children with respect to autism. [...] I don’t think I would inject [my children] with all sorts of vaccines that, really, nobody even right now knows if it works with respect to what they’re, what they’re looking at right now." However, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "studies have shown that there is no link between receiving vaccines and developing ASD." There is one aspect of the COVID-19 vaccine that Donald Trump has never wavered on: giving himself credit for its speedy rollout. As reported by the Guardian, even while remaining mum for some time about receiving the vaccine himself, he still managed to pat himself on the back at CPAC for a job well done. But is the former president correct in making such a confident statement? Sources told CNN in January 2021 that President Joe Biden was left empty-handed when taking over the reins from Trump in regards to the vaccine distribution, and was essentially made to start from "square one." One source claimed, "There is nothing for us to rework. We are going to have to build everything from scratch." Meanwhile, another alluded to the lack of planning on the previous administration's part, saying, "Wow, just further affirmation of complete incompetence." #DonaldTrump #MelaniaTrump #Health