How many times have you heard Republicans and Trump supporters getting blamed for vaccine hesitancy? It’s the prevailing media narrative, yet last year, it was anti-Trumpers who were sowing the seeds of distrust in the COVID vaccines—before and after their approval.
But, you know, only while Trump was president.
There are many examples of liberals who pushed all sorts of conspiracy theories about the vaccines and then suddenly became believers after January 20, 2021, but here are ten of my favorite examples, courtesy of @DefiantLs:
1. Wajahat Ali, Daily Beast columnist
“COVID approves the ‘Trump Vaccine,'” Wajahat Ali tweeted in December. It’s actually one of a few anti-vaccine tweets he shared last year. But he’s singing a different tune now.
“People would rather die than take a vaccine that works,” he said on Thursday. “We live in remarkable times.”
We sure do.
— Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) September 17, 2021
2. Joy Reid of MSNBC
“I mean, will anyone … anyone at all … ever fully trust [the CDC] again?” asked Joy Reid in September. “And who on God’s earth would trust a vaccine approved by [the FDA]?? How do we get a vaccine distributed after this broken, Trumpist nonsense has infected everything? Even if Biden wins?”
Apparently, Joy Reid would, because last month she tweeted “Great news!! Full FDA approval of the Pfizer COVID vaccine! Great sign that the others could follow. Hopefully this will get some people off the fence.”
It seems all it took for her to get off the fence was Trump not being in office.
— Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) August 7, 2021
3. Majid Padellan, social media influencer
“I can guarantee you RIGHT NOW that I will not be taking anything called the trump vaccine,” Majid Padellan told his nearly 920,000 followers back in December. However, last month he announced he was now fully vaccinated and would take whatever boosters are necessary to “stay safe.”
This guy has multiple anti-vax tweets, but this one is my favorite.
— Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) August 20, 2021
4. Amy Siskind, author and activist
“Trump is taking a page from Putin’s playbook, and trying to bully the FDA into making a Covid-19 vaccine available before Stage 3 of testing is complete!” Amy Siskind declared back in August of last year. “HE WILL KILLL [sic] US ALL!!”
But, literally, a year later, Siskind was ahead of the Biden curve, saying “Let it rain vaccine mandates…”
— Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) August 24, 2021
5. Mia Farrow
Last September, Mia Farrow pushed the conspiracy theory that Trump would pressure the FDA before any COVID vaccine was proven safe and effective, citing the FDA’s alleged lies about hydroxychloroquine and convalescent plasma as therapeutics. She announced her vaccination less than five months later—seven days after Biden took office.
— Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) August 24, 2021
6. Robert Reich
“Please, for the love of god, do not rush an unsafe vaccine for political purposes,” former Clinton official Robert Reich pleaded back in October. But back in July, he argued that employers should require their workers to get vaccinated. I wonder what changed?
— Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) August 22, 2021
7. Professional tennis player Martina Navratilova
A year ago, Martina Navratilova warned that the COVID vaccine could cause debilitating birth defects like the old drug thalidomide, but now disses “Republicans who refuse to get vaccinated.”
There still hasn’t been enough time to study the impact of the vaccines on fetal development, by the way.
— Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) August 22, 2021
8. Eric Garland, intelligence analyst and podcaster
Last year, this nutcake pushed a conspiracy theory that Trump and others were pushing the approval of the vaccines against the advice of doctors and scientists, before bragging back in May that he got his second “Fauci Ouchie.”
— Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) August 22, 2021
9. Tony Posnanski
This “award-winning writer and artist” tweeted last year that “not one f—ing legitimate doctor is endorsing this f—ing vaccine coming out in a month.”
“F—k Trump,” he continued. “He only cares about himself.”
Well, that was then. Back in April, he said he’d take a booster shot every day if necessary.
Reminder: If anyone needs to know what a lousy bastard @tonyposnanski is, just ask @davenewworld_2 and @JBNope4 pic.twitter.com/435kkOoZqt
— Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) August 21, 2021
10. Chip Franklin, radio host
This San Francisco-based radio host likened the COVID vaccine to a Russian plot to kill Americans a year before virtue-signaling his willingness to get a booster.
— Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) August 29, 2021
