Former President Donald Trump slammed politicians who refuse to say whether they received the coronavirus booster shot, calling them “cowards.”
“You have to say it. If you put it on or you didn’t put it on, say so,” Trump said in an interview broadcast by the right-wing One America News Network.
Trump, who was booed by his own supporters last month when he revealed he received the booster shot, has now become a critic of those who question the efficacy and safety of vaccines.
It’s a shift in position for Trump as he considers running for president again and faces potential competition from other Republican candidates.
Although the vaccines were developed under the Trump administration, they remain wildly unpopular with Republicans, in part due to an intense disinformation campaign.
When he was president, Trump dismissed the danger of COVID-19 and was privately vaccinated, even as other officials asked to be photographed receiving the vaccine to encourage the public to get it.
“Well, I got it, I got the booster shot,” Trump said in the interview.
“I saw a couple of politicians being interviewed and one of the questions was, ‘Did you get the booster shot?’… And they were like, ‘Hey, hey.’ I mean, the answer was yes but they didn’t want to say it, because they’re cowards,” Trump said.
Trump did not reveal who he was referring to specifically and his spokesmen did not immediately respond to a request for clarification, but Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican considered a potential 2024 candidate, stands out as one of those who has refused to reveal whether has received the booster shot.
“I did whatever I did, the normal injection. And you know, at the end of the day, that’s up to everyone to decide what they want to do,” DeSantis said last month during an interview with Fox News Channel’s Maria Bartiromo.
DeSantis’ office did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday.
Many House Republicans, including Trump allies, have also refused to disclose whether they have received a booster shot.
Some, like Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, show it a point of honor to have refused to receive it.
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