‘It’s Wrong, It’s Immoral’: Biden Issues Plea for ‘Purveyors of Misinformation’ to Stop Anti-Vax Rhetoric
President Joe Biden issued a plea for TV personalities and social media users to stop sharing “misinformation” about Covid-19 vaccines Tuesday during his much-anticipated speech about the Omicron variant.
Biden said, “To folks who are not vaccinated, you may think you’re putting only yourself at risk, but it’s your choice. Your choice is not just a choice about you, it affects other people. You’re putting other people at risk. Your loved ones, your friends, neighbors, strangers you run into.”
He added:
And your choice can be the difference between life or death. The longer the virus is around, the more likely variants form. They may be deadlier than the ones that have come before. Let me say again and again and again and again, please get vaccinated. It’s the only responsible thing to do. Those who are not vaccinated are causing hospitals to… become overrun. Again, I just spoke to the governor of New York. Every Covid-19 hospitalization means someone with a heart attack, cancer, or other serious illness may not get that bed and that lifesaving care they need in the hospital.
Biden then offered former President Donald Trump and his administration a bit of rare praise for giving pharmaceutical companies a green light to quickly develop vaccines last year. But he also cautioned that unvaccinated Americans are vulnerable.
Biden said, “Look, let me give it to you straight again, Omicron is serious, potentially deadly business for unvaccinated people. Let me be clear, thanks to the prior administration and our scientific community, America is one of the first countries to get the vaccine.”
He then criticized Americans who remain unvaccinated, but without blaming them directly. He instead lambasted those he called “purveyors” of lies about the vaccines, who he said are driving vaccine hesitancy.
Biden said, “Look, the unvaccinated are responsible for their own choices. But those choices have been fueled by dangerous misinformation on cable TV and social media. You know, these companies and personalities are making money by peddling lies and allowing misinformation that can kill their own customers and their own supporters. It’s wrong, it’s immoral, I call on the purveyors of these lies and misinformation to stop it. Stop it now.”
Watch above, via CNN.
