Trump supporters won’t get vaccine because Biden is taking credit for Covid shots, claims Fox News contributor

A contributor on Fox News likened Donald Trump supporters to petulant children by insisting that many Republicans are refusing the coronavirus vaccines because they do not believe the former president has been given enough credit for their creation.

Marc Thiessen, a conservative author who writes a column at The Washington Post, appeared on Fox Business's “Kudlow”, where he claimed that Joe Biden has not been congratulatory enough to Mr Trump over the vaccines, which has in turn caused Republicans to eschew the shots.

He said it was “pretty laughable that the White House is arguing that the reason why remaining Americans who are not vaccinated are not doing so is because of 12 people on Facebook,” referring to a recent report tracking more than half of social media disinformation to 12 sources – not necessarily people – that operate on Facebook.

Despite his incredulity at the idea that social media misinformation is driving vaccine hesitancy, he provided little beyond anecdote to actually prove his claim.

“There are legitimate reasons why people aren't being vaccinated,” Mr Thiessen said, before pointing a finger at the Biden administration. “Joe Biden and his vice president downplayed the efficacy of the vaccine.”

There is almost no discourse from Republicans suggesting their main issue with the vaccine is that it is not effective enough. Even before the vaccine existed, conservatives were questioning the efficacy of health orders, as was illustrated by the use of facemasks becoming a political issue and the general disdain directed at Dr Anthony Fauci.

Larry Kudlow, the host of the show, asked the commentator if the Biden administration had been effective at informing the public about the vaccines.

Mr Thiessen said “not at all”, before saying the president “should be crediting President Trump for the greatest public health achievement in American history”.

“They should be telling the vaccine-hesitant Republicans, ‘If you trust Donald Trump, get your Trump vaccine because he’s the one who brought it to you.’ Instead they’re trying to take away credit from him and downplay his role,” Mr Thiessen said.

The columnist's argument holds little water. It was revealed in March that Donald Trump had been vaccinated shortly after the first doses became available. If Mr Trump taking the vaccine is not an implicit enough endorsement to convince his followers to take it, showering the former president with laurels is unlikely going to sway any significant number of people to reconsider their position.

Mr Thiessen complained that Mr Trump had been shut out of the vaccination drive effort by Democrats.

"He’s the only president – they had a public service ad, they asked every former president except Donald Trump to participate in the public service ad. Trump should be front and centre on this," Mr Thiessen said.

The Covid-PSAs that Mr Thiessen is referring to were released in early March, one month after Mr Trump faced his second impeachment trial, which was tied to an insurrection that half the country blamed on him.

Not even Mr Trump appears to agree with Mr Thiessen. The former president has started rallying again and making limited public appearances. Outside of some half-hearted endorsements for the vaccine, Mr Trump has largely used his public time to complain about the Democrats and endorse candidates for midterm races.

Mr Thiessen's vaccine comments may have been part of the network's sudden language shift regarding the coronavirus vaccine. On Monday, several Fox News hosts – including the perennially inflammatory Sean Hannity – encouraged their viewers to get vaccinated. This is a departure for the network from the views of some of its most popular hosts, most notably Tucker Carlson, who has dabbled publicly with anti-vaccination conspiracy theory.

It appears Mr Thiessen found a way to support the vaccine but still vilify the Democrats in the process.