Since President Biden took substantial steps last week to take on the pandemic and require COVID vaccines for hundreds of thousands of people after Republican leaders failed to lead on the issue, Republican officials have desperately doubled down on their hypocritical war against vaccines and made clear they are on the side of the pandemic.

We haven’t figured out why Republicans are on the side of the pandemic, but Republican governors have never had an issue with any of the dozen or so vaccines required for schools in their own states. 

New York Times: G.O.P. Seethes at Biden Mandate, Even in States Requiring Other Vaccines

  • “But each of these states — indeed every state in the country — already mandates certain vaccinations for children, and sometimes for adults, including health care workers and patients in certain facilities.”

Washington Post: The GOP’s halting, uneven journey toward becoming the anti-vaccine mandate party

  • “The Republicans who today say vaccines should be a matter of choice have done relatively little over the years to fight mandates of other such vaccines.”
  • “If you’re going to oppose a mandate for a fully authorized vaccine, it would make more sense if you opposed them more broadly. If you’re going to isolate the one that happens to protect against a virus that has killed more than 600,000 people since the start of 2020, that seems like a strange place to draw the line — unless you have a reason you’re not enunciating for why this one is different.”

Don’t forget that the majority of the American people support vaccine requirements and even Trump-aligned businesses support vaccine requirements.

CNN: More than half of Americans support vaccine mandates for workplaces, classrooms and sporting events

  • “More than half of Americans now say they support requiring vaccinations for office workers returning to the workplace (54%), students attending in-person classes (55%) and patrons attending sporting events or concerts (55%)”
  • “School mask requirements, which have touched off political battles in multiple states, are also broadly popular: 63% say all children attending school in-person should be required to wear face masks in the classrooms, with just 37% opposed.”

Yahoo! News: Biden’s vaccine mandate: Even Trump-friendly companies seem comfortable with COVID restrictions

  • “In contrast to the tone of much of their coverage late Thursday and Friday, Fox’s actual policy remains and shows no signs of changing. Virtually all of Fox News employees need to either provide proof of a vaccination or be tested regularly. Employees must report their vaccination status and there is testing on-site for employees in the New York office.”
  • “Trump’s own hotels offer their guests extensive assurances online about their compliance with COVID regulations. Hotels like the Washington, DC location currently have an indoor mask mandate.”
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