• DEAD TRUMPERS CAN'T VOTE!! ANOTHER WIN FOR COVID!

    From tRUMP One Term Loser!!!!!@21:1/5 to All on Mon Nov 8 21:09:17 2021
    XPost: alt.survival, rec.arts.tv, alt.politics
    XPost: alt.checkmate, alt.atheism, alt.rush-limbaugh
    XPost: alt.baldspot, talk.politics.guns, alt.abortion
    XPost: alt.global-warming, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.journalism.criticism XPost: alt.news-media

    As GOP supporters die of Covid, the party remains split in its vaccination message
    Analysis: Top Trump supporters keep casting doubt on Covid-19 vaccines.
    Ahead of next year's midterms, that means missing a chance to give Trump credit.

    WASHINGTON — As the delta variant of the coronavirus courses through the American bloodstream, the Republican Party can't make up its mind about vaccines.

    Former President Donald Trump has said that people should get inoculated
    but also that he wants to respect their right to choose not to. For the
    most part, he's been as reluctant to urge vaccinations as his political
    base has been resistant — perhaps leery of crossing his own voters, even
    though deaths are higher in traditionally conservative regions.

    While Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., urged Americans to
    get dosed this week and House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., released
    a photo of his injection, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., was
    suspended from Twitter for spreading misinformation that played down the
    risk of the virus, which has killed more than 600,000 people in the U.S.

    Fox News prime-time hosts Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity, both major influencers within Republican circles, have split over the issue. Carlson
    is fueling vaccine skepticism; Hannity, who once played down the risk of
    the virus, is urging Americans to take the jab. Laura Ingraham, another high-profile Fox host, has given voice to skeptics and accused Democrats
    of "coercion" in promoting vaccines.

    "I can't say it enough: Enough people have died. We don't need any more
    death," Hannity said on his show Monday. "I believe in the science of vaccination."

    It's not clear yet whether the mixed messaging, coming against the
    backdrop of a surge of infections in the U.S., will have an effect on next year's midterm elections or a possible Trump bid for the presidency in
    2024. But some Republicans are befuddled by loud anti-vaccine voices
    drowning out the credit Trump wants to take for having pushed development
    of coronavirus countermeasures through Operation Warp Speed.

    "I don't understand it," Republican GOP strategist Brad Todd said, adding,
    "I didn't understand it when [2020 North Carolina Democratic Senate
    candidate] Cal Cunningham and Kamala Harris tried to cast doubt on Warp
    Speed."

    In September, during the stretch run of the presidential campaign, Harris sounded a note of skepticism about Trump's promotion of then-forthcoming vaccines.

    "I will say that I would not trust Donald Trump and it would have to be a credible source of information that talks about the efficacy and the reliability of whatever he's talking about," Harris said on CNN. "I will
    not take his word for it."

    But the politics of vaccination have changed, and Democratic strategists
    see a common thread running through conspiracy theories embraced by the
    GOP that include misinformation about the vaccines and Trump's lie that
    the last election was rigged. Democratic voters, the strategists say, are extremely concerned about Republican leaders' selling lies that incite
    voters to take dangerous action — or, in the case of the vaccines — no
    action.

    "It's definitely a turnout issue on our side," said Julia Kennedy, a
    Democratic strategist who worked on President Joe Biden's campaign. "It is definitely still at the top of people's minds, because they are connecting Republican candidates with the Capitol insurrection, conspiracy theories
    over the vaccine and the big lie."

    For Republicans, the calculus is more complex, and the party's putative
    leader, Trump, has tried to have it both ways. He is consistent in his
    message that he is responsible for the development of the vaccines and
    that they have his seal of approval for Americans who want to get
    inoculated. But he has also provided rhetorical comfort for people who opt against vaccination, an ambiguity that began with his decision to receive
    his vaccination privately and not to use the occasion to persuade others.

    "I would recommend it to a lot of people that don't want to get it, and a
    lot of those people voted for me, frankly," he told Fox Business in March.
    "But again, we have our freedoms, and we have to live by that, and I agree
    with that also. But it is a great vaccine. It is a safe vaccine, and it is something that works."

    Despite the divide in the party, many Republicans see little electoral
    danger for the midterms.

    Elijah Haahr, a former Missouri House speaker, said there's an asymmetry
    to the voting public. For those who have chosen not to get vaccinated, he
    said, "that will be their No. 1 issue, and they will vote against the
    party that wants to force them to vaccinate." On the other side of the spectrum, he said, people who have been vaccinated are more likely to put
    other issues front and center by the time they go to the polls next year.

    But Kennedy said Democrats will still be fired up, because skepticism
    about vaccines is part of what her party's voters see as a pattern of
    harmful disinformation and misinformation coming from GOP officials and
    their allies in conservative media.

    "Our people are tying it to all of these other things," Kennedy said. "As
    happy as people are that we got Trump out of office, the threat is so real
    and still in people's face."

    For all voters, the urgency may have everything to do with where the fight against Covid-19 stands in the fall of 2022.

    "It depends on the progress of the pandemic between now and the midterm,"
    said Michael Steel, a GOP strategist.

    What Steel said he can't understand — along with millions of Americans in
    both parties — is why some of Trump's top supporters are casting doubt on vaccines and why Trump himself hasn't been even more present in
    encouraging people to get vaccinated.

    "These are Trump vaccines," Steel said. "He should be standing on the roof
    of Trump Tower shouting at people to take vaccines."

    Get the Morning Rundown

    Get a head start on the morning's top stories.
    This site is protected by recaptcha Privacy Policy | Terms of Service
    Jonathan Allen

    Jonathan Allen is a senior national politics reporter for NBC News, based
    in Washington.
    by Taboola
    Sponsored Stories
    All Things AutoNew Cadillac's Finally On Sale
    TrendingGiftsHere Are 23 of the Coolest Gifts for This 2021

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From tRUMP One Term Loser!!!!!@21:1/5 to All on Tue Nov 16 21:59:45 2021
    XPost: alt.survival, rec.arts.tv, alt.politics
    XPost: alt.checkmate, alt.atheism, alt.rush-limbaugh
    XPost: alt.baldspot, talk.politics.guns, alt.abortion
    XPost: alt.global-warming, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.journalism.criticism XPost: alt.news-media

    As GOP supporters die of Covid, the party remains split in its vaccination message
    Analysis: Top Trump supporters keep casting doubt on Covid-19 vaccines.
    Ahead of next year's midterms, that means missing a chance to give Trump credit.

    WASHINGTON — As the delta variant of the coronavirus courses through the American bloodstream, the Republican Party can't make up its mind about vaccines.

    Former President Donald Trump has said that people should get inoculated
    but also that he wants to respect their right to choose not to. For the
    most part, he's been as reluctant to urge vaccinations as his political
    base has been resistant — perhaps leery of crossing his own voters, even
    though deaths are higher in traditionally conservative regions.

    While Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., urged Americans to
    get dosed this week and House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., released
    a photo of his injection, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., was
    suspended from Twitter for spreading misinformation that played down the
    risk of the virus, which has killed more than 600,000 people in the U.S.

    Fox News prime-time hosts Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity, both major influencers within Republican circles, have split over the issue. Carlson
    is fueling vaccine skepticism; Hannity, who once played down the risk of
    the virus, is urging Americans to take the jab. Laura Ingraham, another high-profile Fox host, has given voice to skeptics and accused Democrats
    of "coercion" in promoting vaccines.

    "I can't say it enough: Enough people have died. We don't need any more
    death," Hannity said on his show Monday. "I believe in the science of vaccination."

    It's not clear yet whether the mixed messaging, coming against the
    backdrop of a surge of infections in the U.S., will have an effect on next year's midterm elections or a possible Trump bid for the presidency in
    2024. But some Republicans are befuddled by loud anti-vaccine voices
    drowning out the credit Trump wants to take for having pushed development
    of coronavirus countermeasures through Operation Warp Speed.

    "I don't understand it," Republican GOP strategist Brad Todd said, adding,
    "I didn't understand it when [2020 North Carolina Democratic Senate
    candidate] Cal Cunningham and Kamala Harris tried to cast doubt on Warp
    Speed."

    In September, during the stretch run of the presidential campaign, Harris sounded a note of skepticism about Trump's promotion of then-forthcoming vaccines.

    "I will say that I would not trust Donald Trump and it would have to be a credible source of information that talks about the efficacy and the reliability of whatever he's talking about," Harris said on CNN. "I will
    not take his word for it."

    But the politics of vaccination have changed, and Democratic strategists
    see a common thread running through conspiracy theories embraced by the
    GOP that include misinformation about the vaccines and Trump's lie that
    the last election was rigged. Democratic voters, the strategists say, are extremely concerned about Republican leaders' selling lies that incite
    voters to take dangerous action — or, in the case of the vaccines — no
    action.

    "It's definitely a turnout issue on our side," said Julia Kennedy, a
    Democratic strategist who worked on President Joe Biden's campaign. "It is definitely still at the top of people's minds, because they are connecting Republican candidates with the Capitol insurrection, conspiracy theories
    over the vaccine and the big lie."

    For Republicans, the calculus is more complex, and the party's putative
    leader, Trump, has tried to have it both ways. He is consistent in his
    message that he is responsible for the development of the vaccines and
    that they have his seal of approval for Americans who want to get
    inoculated. But he has also provided rhetorical comfort for people who opt against vaccination, an ambiguity that began with his decision to receive
    his vaccination privately and not to use the occasion to persuade others.

    "I would recommend it to a lot of people that don't want to get it, and a
    lot of those people voted for me, frankly," he told Fox Business in March.
    "But again, we have our freedoms, and we have to live by that, and I agree
    with that also. But it is a great vaccine. It is a safe vaccine, and it is something that works."

    Despite the divide in the party, many Republicans see little electoral
    danger for the midterms.

    Elijah Haahr, a former Missouri House speaker, said there's an asymmetry
    to the voting public. For those who have chosen not to get vaccinated, he
    said, "that will be their No. 1 issue, and they will vote against the
    party that wants to force them to vaccinate." On the other side of the spectrum, he said, people who have been vaccinated are more likely to put
    other issues front and center by the time they go to the polls next year.

    But Kennedy said Democrats will still be fired up, because skepticism
    about vaccines is part of what her party's voters see as a pattern of
    harmful disinformation and misinformation coming from GOP officials and
    their allies in conservative media.

    "Our people are tying it to all of these other things," Kennedy said. "As
    happy as people are that we got Trump out of office, the threat is so real
    and still in people's face."

    For all voters, the urgency may have everything to do with where the fight against Covid-19 stands in the fall of 2022.

    "It depends on the progress of the pandemic between now and the midterm,"
    said Michael Steel, a GOP strategist.

    What Steel said he can't understand — along with millions of Americans in
    both parties — is why some of Trump's top supporters are casting doubt on vaccines and why Trump himself hasn't been even more present in
    encouraging people to get vaccinated.

    "These are Trump vaccines," Steel said. "He should be standing on the roof
    of Trump Tower shouting at people to take vaccines."

    Get the Morning Rundown

    Get a head start on the morning's top stories.
    This site is protected by recaptcha Privacy Policy | Terms of Service
    Jonathan Allen

    Jonathan Allen is a senior national politics reporter for NBC News, based
    in Washington.
    by Taboola
    Sponsored Stories
    All Things AutoNew Cadillac's Finally On Sale
    TrendingGiftsHere Are 23 of the Coolest Gifts for This 2021

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From tRUMP One Term Loser!!!!!@21:1/5 to All on Sun Nov 21 22:09:45 2021
    XPost: alt.survival, rec.arts.tv, alt.politics
    XPost: alt.checkmate, alt.atheism, alt.rush-limbaugh
    XPost: alt.baldspot, talk.politics.guns, alt.abortion
    XPost: alt.global-warming, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.journalism.criticism XPost: alt.news-media

    As GOP supporters die of Covid, the party remains split in its vaccination message
    Analysis: Top Trump supporters keep casting doubt on Covid-19 vaccines.
    Ahead of next year's midterms, that means missing a chance to give Trump credit.

    WASHINGTON — As the delta variant of the coronavirus courses through the American bloodstream, the Republican Party can't make up its mind about vaccines.

    Former President Donald Trump has said that people should get inoculated
    but also that he wants to respect their right to choose not to. For the
    most part, he's been as reluctant to urge vaccinations as his political
    base has been resistant — perhaps leery of crossing his own voters, even
    though deaths are higher in traditionally conservative regions.

    While Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., urged Americans to
    get dosed this week and House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., released
    a photo of his injection, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., was
    suspended from Twitter for spreading misinformation that played down the
    risk of the virus, which has killed more than 600,000 people in the U.S.

    Fox News prime-time hosts Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity, both major influencers within Republican circles, have split over the issue. Carlson
    is fueling vaccine skepticism; Hannity, who once played down the risk of
    the virus, is urging Americans to take the jab. Laura Ingraham, another high-profile Fox host, has given voice to skeptics and accused Democrats
    of "coercion" in promoting vaccines.

    "I can't say it enough: Enough people have died. We don't need any more
    death," Hannity said on his show Monday. "I believe in the science of vaccination."

    It's not clear yet whether the mixed messaging, coming against the
    backdrop of a surge of infections in the U.S., will have an effect on next year's midterm elections or a possible Trump bid for the presidency in
    2024. But some Republicans are befuddled by loud anti-vaccine voices
    drowning out the credit Trump wants to take for having pushed development
    of coronavirus countermeasures through Operation Warp Speed.

    "I don't understand it," Republican GOP strategist Brad Todd said, adding,
    "I didn't understand it when [2020 North Carolina Democratic Senate
    candidate] Cal Cunningham and Kamala Harris tried to cast doubt on Warp
    Speed."

    In September, during the stretch run of the presidential campaign, Harris sounded a note of skepticism about Trump's promotion of then-forthcoming vaccines.

    "I will say that I would not trust Donald Trump and it would have to be a credible source of information that talks about the efficacy and the reliability of whatever he's talking about," Harris said on CNN. "I will
    not take his word for it."

    But the politics of vaccination have changed, and Democratic strategists
    see a common thread running through conspiracy theories embraced by the
    GOP that include misinformation about the vaccines and Trump's lie that
    the last election was rigged. Democratic voters, the strategists say, are extremely concerned about Republican leaders' selling lies that incite
    voters to take dangerous action — or, in the case of the vaccines — no
    action.

    "It's definitely a turnout issue on our side," said Julia Kennedy, a
    Democratic strategist who worked on President Joe Biden's campaign. "It is definitely still at the top of people's minds, because they are connecting Republican candidates with the Capitol insurrection, conspiracy theories
    over the vaccine and the big lie."

    For Republicans, the calculus is more complex, and the party's putative
    leader, Trump, has tried to have it both ways. He is consistent in his
    message that he is responsible for the development of the vaccines and
    that they have his seal of approval for Americans who want to get
    inoculated. But he has also provided rhetorical comfort for people who opt against vaccination, an ambiguity that began with his decision to receive
    his vaccination privately and not to use the occasion to persuade others.

    "I would recommend it to a lot of people that don't want to get it, and a
    lot of those people voted for me, frankly," he told Fox Business in March.
    "But again, we have our freedoms, and we have to live by that, and I agree
    with that also. But it is a great vaccine. It is a safe vaccine, and it is something that works."

    Despite the divide in the party, many Republicans see little electoral
    danger for the midterms.

    Elijah Haahr, a former Missouri House speaker, said there's an asymmetry
    to the voting public. For those who have chosen not to get vaccinated, he
    said, "that will be their No. 1 issue, and they will vote against the
    party that wants to force them to vaccinate." On the other side of the spectrum, he said, people who have been vaccinated are more likely to put
    other issues front and center by the time they go to the polls next year.

    But Kennedy said Democrats will still be fired up, because skepticism
    about vaccines is part of what her party's voters see as a pattern of
    harmful disinformation and misinformation coming from GOP officials and
    their allies in conservative media.

    "Our people are tying it to all of these other things," Kennedy said. "As
    happy as people are that we got Trump out of office, the threat is so real
    and still in people's face."

    For all voters, the urgency may have everything to do with where the fight against Covid-19 stands in the fall of 2022.

    "It depends on the progress of the pandemic between now and the midterm,"
    said Michael Steel, a GOP strategist.

    What Steel said he can't understand — along with millions of Americans in
    both parties — is why some of Trump's top supporters are casting doubt on vaccines and why Trump himself hasn't been even more present in
    encouraging people to get vaccinated.

    "These are Trump vaccines," Steel said. "He should be standing on the roof
    of Trump Tower shouting at people to take vaccines."

    Get the Morning Rundown

    Get a head start on the morning's top stories.
    This site is protected by recaptcha Privacy Policy | Terms of Service
    Jonathan Allen

    Jonathan Allen is a senior national politics reporter for NBC News, based
    in Washington.
    by Taboola
    Sponsored Stories
    All Things AutoNew Cadillac's Finally On Sale
    TrendingGiftsHere Are 23 of the Coolest Gifts for This 2021

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From tRUMP One Term Loser!!!!!@21:1/5 to All on Mon Nov 29 22:01:31 2021
    XPost: alt.survival, rec.arts.tv, alt.politics
    XPost: alt.checkmate, alt.atheism, alt.rush-limbaugh
    XPost: alt.baldspot, talk.politics.guns, alt.abortion
    XPost: alt.global-warming, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.journalism.criticism XPost: alt.news-media

    As GOP supporters die of Covid, the party remains split in its vaccination message
    Analysis: Top Trump supporters keep casting doubt on Covid-19 vaccines.
    Ahead of next year's midterms, that means missing a chance to give Trump credit.

    WASHINGTON — As the delta variant of the coronavirus courses through the American bloodstream, the Republican Party can't make up its mind about vaccines.

    Former President Donald Trump has said that people should get inoculated
    but also that he wants to respect their right to choose not to. For the
    most part, he's been as reluctant to urge vaccinations as his political
    base has been resistant — perhaps leery of crossing his own voters, even
    though deaths are higher in traditionally conservative regions.

    While Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., urged Americans to
    get dosed this week and House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., released
    a photo of his injection, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., was
    suspended from Twitter for spreading misinformation that played down the
    risk of the virus, which has killed more than 600,000 people in the U.S.

    Fox News prime-time hosts Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity, both major influencers within Republican circles, have split over the issue. Carlson
    is fueling vaccine skepticism; Hannity, who once played down the risk of
    the virus, is urging Americans to take the jab. Laura Ingraham, another high-profile Fox host, has given voice to skeptics and accused Democrats
    of "coercion" in promoting vaccines.

    "I can't say it enough: Enough people have died. We don't need any more
    death," Hannity said on his show Monday. "I believe in the science of vaccination."

    It's not clear yet whether the mixed messaging, coming against the
    backdrop of a surge of infections in the U.S., will have an effect on next year's midterm elections or a possible Trump bid for the presidency in
    2024. But some Republicans are befuddled by loud anti-vaccine voices
    drowning out the credit Trump wants to take for having pushed development
    of coronavirus countermeasures through Operation Warp Speed.

    "I don't understand it," Republican GOP strategist Brad Todd said, adding,
    "I didn't understand it when [2020 North Carolina Democratic Senate
    candidate] Cal Cunningham and Kamala Harris tried to cast doubt on Warp
    Speed."

    In September, during the stretch run of the presidential campaign, Harris sounded a note of skepticism about Trump's promotion of then-forthcoming vaccines.

    "I will say that I would not trust Donald Trump and it would have to be a credible source of information that talks about the efficacy and the reliability of whatever he's talking about," Harris said on CNN. "I will
    not take his word for it."

    But the politics of vaccination have changed, and Democratic strategists
    see a common thread running through conspiracy theories embraced by the
    GOP that include misinformation about the vaccines and Trump's lie that
    the last election was rigged. Democratic voters, the strategists say, are extremely concerned about Republican leaders' selling lies that incite
    voters to take dangerous action — or, in the case of the vaccines — no
    action.

    "It's definitely a turnout issue on our side," said Julia Kennedy, a
    Democratic strategist who worked on President Joe Biden's campaign. "It is definitely still at the top of people's minds, because they are connecting Republican candidates with the Capitol insurrection, conspiracy theories
    over the vaccine and the big lie."

    For Republicans, the calculus is more complex, and the party's putative
    leader, Trump, has tried to have it both ways. He is consistent in his
    message that he is responsible for the development of the vaccines and
    that they have his seal of approval for Americans who want to get
    inoculated. But he has also provided rhetorical comfort for people who opt against vaccination, an ambiguity that began with his decision to receive
    his vaccination privately and not to use the occasion to persuade others.

    "I would recommend it to a lot of people that don't want to get it, and a
    lot of those people voted for me, frankly," he told Fox Business in March.
    "But again, we have our freedoms, and we have to live by that, and I agree
    with that also. But it is a great vaccine. It is a safe vaccine, and it is something that works."

    Despite the divide in the party, many Republicans see little electoral
    danger for the midterms.

    Elijah Haahr, a former Missouri House speaker, said there's an asymmetry
    to the voting public. For those who have chosen not to get vaccinated, he
    said, "that will be their No. 1 issue, and they will vote against the
    party that wants to force them to vaccinate." On the other side of the spectrum, he said, people who have been vaccinated are more likely to put
    other issues front and center by the time they go to the polls next year.

    But Kennedy said Democrats will still be fired up, because skepticism
    about vaccines is part of what her party's voters see as a pattern of
    harmful disinformation and misinformation coming from GOP officials and
    their allies in conservative media.

    "Our people are tying it to all of these other things," Kennedy said. "As
    happy as people are that we got Trump out of office, the threat is so real
    and still in people's face."

    For all voters, the urgency may have everything to do with where the fight against Covid-19 stands in the fall of 2022.

    "It depends on the progress of the pandemic between now and the midterm,"
    said Michael Steel, a GOP strategist.

    What Steel said he can't understand — along with millions of Americans in
    both parties — is why some of Trump's top supporters are casting doubt on vaccines and why Trump himself hasn't been even more present in
    encouraging people to get vaccinated.

    "These are Trump vaccines," Steel said. "He should be standing on the roof
    of Trump Tower shouting at people to take vaccines."

    Get the Morning Rundown

    Get a head start on the morning's top stories.
    This site is protected by recaptcha Privacy Policy | Terms of Service
    Jonathan Allen

    Jonathan Allen is a senior national politics reporter for NBC News, based
    in Washington.
    by Taboola
    Sponsored Stories
    All Things AutoNew Cadillac's Finally On Sale
    TrendingGiftsHere Are 23 of the Coolest Gifts for This 2021

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From tRUMP One Term Loser!!!!!@21:1/5 to All on Sat Dec 4 16:56:03 2021
    XPost: alt.survival, rec.arts.tv, alt.politics
    XPost: alt.checkmate, alt.atheism, alt.rush-limbaugh
    XPost: alt.baldspot, talk.politics.guns, alt.abortion
    XPost: alt.global-warming, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.journalism.criticism XPost: alt.news-media

    As GOP supporters die of Covid, the party remains split in its vaccination message
    Analysis: Top Trump supporters keep casting doubt on Covid-19 vaccines.
    Ahead of next year's midterms, that means missing a chance to give Trump credit.

    WASHINGTON — As the delta variant of the coronavirus courses through the American bloodstream, the Republican Party can't make up its mind about vaccines.

    Former President Donald Trump has said that people should get inoculated
    but also that he wants to respect their right to choose not to. For the
    most part, he's been as reluctant to urge vaccinations as his political
    base has been resistant — perhaps leery of crossing his own voters, even
    though deaths are higher in traditionally conservative regions.

    While Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., urged Americans to
    get dosed this week and House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., released
    a photo of his injection, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., was
    suspended from Twitter for spreading misinformation that played down the
    risk of the virus, which has killed more than 600,000 people in the U.S.

    Fox News prime-time hosts Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity, both major influencers within Republican circles, have split over the issue. Carlson
    is fueling vaccine skepticism; Hannity, who once played down the risk of
    the virus, is urging Americans to take the jab. Laura Ingraham, another high-profile Fox host, has given voice to skeptics and accused Democrats
    of "coercion" in promoting vaccines.

    "I can't say it enough: Enough people have died. We don't need any more
    death," Hannity said on his show Monday. "I believe in the science of vaccination."

    It's not clear yet whether the mixed messaging, coming against the
    backdrop of a surge of infections in the U.S., will have an effect on next year's midterm elections or a possible Trump bid for the presidency in
    2024. But some Republicans are befuddled by loud anti-vaccine voices
    drowning out the credit Trump wants to take for having pushed development
    of coronavirus countermeasures through Operation Warp Speed.

    "I don't understand it," Republican GOP strategist Brad Todd said, adding,
    "I didn't understand it when [2020 North Carolina Democratic Senate
    candidate] Cal Cunningham and Kamala Harris tried to cast doubt on Warp
    Speed."

    In September, during the stretch run of the presidential campaign, Harris sounded a note of skepticism about Trump's promotion of then-forthcoming vaccines.

    "I will say that I would not trust Donald Trump and it would have to be a credible source of information that talks about the efficacy and the reliability of whatever he's talking about," Harris said on CNN. "I will
    not take his word for it."

    But the politics of vaccination have changed, and Democratic strategists
    see a common thread running through conspiracy theories embraced by the
    GOP that include misinformation about the vaccines and Trump's lie that
    the last election was rigged. Democratic voters, the strategists say, are extremely concerned about Republican leaders' selling lies that incite
    voters to take dangerous action — or, in the case of the vaccines — no
    action.

    "It's definitely a turnout issue on our side," said Julia Kennedy, a
    Democratic strategist who worked on President Joe Biden's campaign. "It is definitely still at the top of people's minds, because they are connecting Republican candidates with the Capitol insurrection, conspiracy theories
    over the vaccine and the big lie."

    For Republicans, the calculus is more complex, and the party's putative
    leader, Trump, has tried to have it both ways. He is consistent in his
    message that he is responsible for the development of the vaccines and
    that they have his seal of approval for Americans who want to get
    inoculated. But he has also provided rhetorical comfort for people who opt against vaccination, an ambiguity that began with his decision to receive
    his vaccination privately and not to use the occasion to persuade others.

    "I would recommend it to a lot of people that don't want to get it, and a
    lot of those people voted for me, frankly," he told Fox Business in March.
    "But again, we have our freedoms, and we have to live by that, and I agree
    with that also. But it is a great vaccine. It is a safe vaccine, and it is something that works."

    Despite the divide in the party, many Republicans see little electoral
    danger for the midterms.

    Elijah Haahr, a former Missouri House speaker, said there's an asymmetry
    to the voting public. For those who have chosen not to get vaccinated, he
    said, "that will be their No. 1 issue, and they will vote against the
    party that wants to force them to vaccinate." On the other side of the spectrum, he said, people who have been vaccinated are more likely to put
    other issues front and center by the time they go to the polls next year.

    But Kennedy said Democrats will still be fired up, because skepticism
    about vaccines is part of what her party's voters see as a pattern of
    harmful disinformation and misinformation coming from GOP officials and
    their allies in conservative media.

    "Our people are tying it to all of these other things," Kennedy said. "As
    happy as people are that we got Trump out of office, the threat is so real
    and still in people's face."

    For all voters, the urgency may have everything to do with where the fight against Covid-19 stands in the fall of 2022.

    "It depends on the progress of the pandemic between now and the midterm,"
    said Michael Steel, a GOP strategist.

    What Steel said he can't understand — along with millions of Americans in
    both parties — is why some of Trump's top supporters are casting doubt on vaccines and why Trump himself hasn't been even more present in
    encouraging people to get vaccinated.

    "These are Trump vaccines," Steel said. "He should be standing on the roof
    of Trump Tower shouting at people to take vaccines."

    Get the Morning Rundown

    Get a head start on the morning's top stories.
    This site is protected by recaptcha Privacy Policy | Terms of Service
    Jonathan Allen

    Jonathan Allen is a senior national politics reporter for NBC News, based
    in Washington.
    by Taboola
    Sponsored Stories
    All Things AutoNew Cadillac's Finally On Sale
    TrendingGiftsHere Are 23 of the Coolest Gifts for This 2021

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)