White House amplifies Trump on vaccines

The Biden administration has amplified former President Trump’s endorsement of COVID-19 vaccines amid the recent spike in cases across the country. 

In an interview with The Daily Wire, Trump shot down suggestions from host Candace Owens that vaccines don’t work, saying “if you take the vaccine, you’re protected.”

“Look, the results of the vaccine are very good, and if you do get it, it’s a very minor form,” Trump said on Tuesday’s episode of “Candace.”

“People aren’t dying when they take the vaccine,” he added. 

White House press secretary Jen Psaki retweeted a clip of the interview on Thursday, writing “Just going to echo former President Trump here on the safety and efficacy of the vaccines.”

Just going to echo former President Trump here on the safety and efficacy of the vaccines. Merry Christmas eve eve. go get boosted https://t.co/0PCffM5kHl

— Jen Psaki (@PressSec) December 23, 2021

Trump was booed over the weekend when he told former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly that he has received his COVID-19 vaccine booster shot. 

Psaki told the media on Thursday that Trump and Biden have not communicated directly, but praised the former president for his message on vaccines. 

“We are grateful that the former president got the booster. We’re also grateful that he made clear in a recent interview that they’re effective and they’re safe. And that’s an important message for anyone to hear,” Psaki said.

“This is not a partisan issue. This is about saving lives, communicating accurate information, pushing back against inaccurate information, and in this particular case, the former president did that,” she added.  

The U.S. is currently dealing with a winter surge of COVID-19 infections as the new omicron variant spreads across the nation. 

In her daily press briefing on Wednesday, Psaki said she wasn’t sure how much Trump’s vouching for the efficacy of vaccines would change behavior. 

“We can’t assess what that will mean, or how people will digest that, or if it will change their behavior if they were opposed to getting boosted or opposed to getting vaccinated. We certainly hope so,” Psaki said at the briefing. 

A Kaiser Family Foundation study last month showed that unvaccinated adults are three times more likely to lean Republican than Democratic.