President Biden on Tuesday gave credit to former President Trump’s administration for its role in getting the coronavirus vaccine off the ground and applauded his political rival for getting a booster shot.
Mr. Biden rarely mentions his predecessor and even more rarely does it in a positive vein.
“Thanks to the prior administration and the scientific community, America is one of the first countries to get the vaccine,” Mr. Biden said during a speech detailing his administration’s plan to combat the omicron variant of COVID-19.
Later, Mr. Biden said doctors have endorsed booster shots as “strongest protection” against the virus. He noted that Mr. Trump publicly admitted that he received a booster shot.
“Just the other day, former President Trump announced he got his booster shot,” Mr. Biden said. “It may be one of the few things he and I agree on. People with booster shots are highly protected. Join them. Join us!”
The praise coincides with the administration’s struggle to sway vaccination holdouts, many of whom are Trump supporters.
Mr. Trump on Sunday told an audience in Dallas that he received the booster shot, eliciting boos from some in the crowd.
When asked by former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly if he got the booster, Mr. Trump confirms that he did to a smattering of boos from the audience.
“Don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t,” Mr. Trump says in a video of the event tweeted by Mr. O’Reilly. “That’s all right, it’s a very tiny group over there.”
In a longer video tweeted by Mr. O’Reilly, the former president warns supporters that they are “playing right into their hands” when they dismiss the vaccines.
“Look, we did something that was historic, we saved tens of millions of lives worldwide. We, together, all of us, not me,” Mr. Trump said.
For more information, visit The Washington Times COVID-19 resource page.
