On Monday, New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman revealed that former President Donald Trump has taken a redoubled hardline against vaccine mandates in large part because he is spooked about his own base turning on him for his previous comments in favor of the vaccines.
Haberman's comments came in response to New York Times statistics flagged by The Intercept D.C. bureau chief Ryan Grim, revealing that "in counties where Donald Trump received at least 70 percent of the vote, the virus has killed about 47 out of every 100,000 people since the end of June," compared to just 10 out of every 100,000 people who live in counties that voted heavily for President Joe Biden.
Trump, who historically has promoted anti-vaccine conspiracy theories and whose base is among the most vaccine-resistant groups in the United States, has previously made some efforts to promote the vaccine, whose development was spurred along by federal funding appropriated during his administration.
But his efforts have met resistance; at a rally in Alabama, the former president was booed by his own supporters for suggesting people should get vaccinated.