Trump Is Now Bashing His Own Vaccine In Attempt To Own DeSantis

AP Photo/Alex Brandon; AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File

Former President Donald Trump shared a video saying the Covid-19 vaccine, which was developed with funding from his administration, is responsible for killing people.

On Thursday, Trump continued his broadsides against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who on Wednesday participated in the first Republican primary debate, which the former president boycotted. The governor has attempted to outflank Trump on his right on a host of issues, including the vaccine that was developed as part of the latter’s Operation Warp Speed during his presidency.

Since that time, the vaccine has become fodder for conspiracy theorists who have claimed the vaccine is ineffective or even deadly. In 2021, DeSantis even appointed a vaccine skeptic to be Florida’s surgeon general. The governor has also refused to say whether he received any of the Covid-19 booster shots.

In response, Trump has downplayed Operation Warp Speed. But on Thursday, he took matters to a different level by derisively sharing a video of DeSantis promoting the vaccine.

The post – originally posted by an account called “Yoshi The Patriot” on Twitter – says, “Wake me up when DeSantis apologizes for vaccinating more people than Trump and Fauci combined. Here is desantis [sic] bragging about vaccinating 1 million people in Florida by vaccinating the millionth person live on tv. Henry Sayler died 4 months later.”

The text is accompanied by a video of DeSantis in early 2021 speaking with hosts of Fox & Friends while Sayler receives the vaccine. Sayler was a World War II veteran and former member of the Florida Senate. He was also 100 years old when he received the shot.

The post is a far cry from Trump’s original remarks on the vaccine.

“You’re going to be very proud of this day, and you’re going to be very proud of this period of time because nobody thought this was possible,” he said in December 2020 after it was developed. “Nobody thought it was even remotely possible to do what we’ve done in a period of less than nine months — something that — just not even thinkable.”