Sen. John Kennedy Lauds Vaccine Benefits Before Saying ‘If You Don’t Want to Take the Vaccine, Don’t Take It’
Senator John Kennedy delivered some mixed messaging on Covid-19 vaccinations to Fox News Thursday morning, lauding their benefits, but also saying “don’t take it.” For real.
Appearing on America’s Newsroom to discuss, among other things, the recent spike in Covid infections due to the delta variant, particularly in southern states like Kennedy’s home state of Louisiana, Sandra Smith noted that “people are worried in the direction we’re going.”
“Don’t get distracted,” Kennedy confidently averred. “The issue is the vaccine. We need to spend all of our efforts trying to convince folks that the costs of the vaccine are substantially less than the benefit.” He then noted that Louisiana has seen a recent increase in the vaccination rate of 3 or 4%. He then doubled down on the benefits of the Covid vaccine, calling it “the only thing that will get us out of this. ”
It was a clear and laudatory message to Fox News viewers, that was immediately muddied with what the senator said next.
“Let me say it again: If you don’t want to take the vaccine, don’t take it,” he said, giving ostensible permission for vaccine-hesitant viewers looking for a reason to make what all public health and medical experts would call a poor personal decision.
“But I believe in it,” Kennedy swung back to his previous angle. “I think it works,” he added. “If they told me to take the vaccine, I had to take it by getting a shot in the eyeball, I would. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to see my fellow Americans die.”
“I believe the vaccine works and we need to make our case,” he concluded. “But government can’t require people to do it. I just don’t think it’s constitutional.”
Many on-air personalities and guests appear to feel obligated to state the obvious that getting the vaccine is a personal choice. Of course, it is, but so too is driving while drunk or licking public urinals, but doing either of those is not a wise choice.
Recent polling says that the percentage of Fox News viewers that are vaccine-hesitant has dropped to an all-time low, but the permission granted to those that its okay to avoid the vaccine surely won’t help those numbers decrease further.
Watch above via Fox News.
