NYT Editorial Board Member Praises Trump for Revealing He Got Booster: ‘Credit Where Credit Is Due’

New York Times editorial board member Mara Gay, a frequent critic of former President Donald Trump, praised him on Monday for announcing he has received a Covid-19 booster shot.

During a tour stop with former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly in Dallas on Sunday, Trump divulged that he had received a booster. Some in the audience were not pleased to hear the news, and they audibly booed both men. Trump said in the moment that those who jeered made up only a small fraction of those in attendance.

Gay, one of Trump’s many staunch media critics, commended him Monday evening for announcing in front of the crowd that he is fully vaccinated. Gay shared her take on Trump’s being boosted and booed by his own supporters on MSNBC’s The Beat with guest host Alicia Menendez.

Menendez said, “We’ve talked a lot about what it will take to get those who have been resistant to getting the vaccine, to get it whether or not those messengers could in fact be good messengers. I was struck by the fact that he says ‘Oh, it is not everybody booing just a small corner over there,’ as though he is beginning to understand how damning this is for his own legacy.”

Gay responded, “Well, of course they created this monster. At this point we need all hands on deck. So we need Trump supporters and Fox News viewers to get vaccinated. So, I’m willing to take personally any kind of help from anywhere that encourages people to get vaccinated and to do the right thing and take this virus seriously to protect themselves and others. I think it was really good to see Donald Trump publicly say that he got the booster.”

Gay added,

So credit where credit is due. I wish he was out there saying that every day. But if he gets booed we know he won’t do that. So, you know, too little too late? Sure. But I really think that we should encourage this, actually. And I think the reality is the people who are refusing to get vaccinated are not going to be bullied into doing it.

They may be mandated into doing it, but they’re not going to be convinced through bullying, I think at this point. I don’t really, I am not an expert on how to convince them. I am quite frustrated. I certainly support mandates as we have as an editorial board here in New York. But I think we really have to just give credit where credit is due today.

Watch above, via MSNBC.