NIAID Director Anthony Fauci told Fox News Sunday that “it would make all the difference in the world” if former President Trump urged his supporters to get the coronavirus vaccine.
Why it’s important: Republicans, especially party men, are the demographics least likely to say they plan to get vaccinated against the virus, according to recent polls.
By numbers: 49% of Republican men surveyed in an NPR / PBS NewsHour / Marist poll conducted in early March indicated they would not be vaccinated, while 47% of those who supported Trump in 2020 said the same.
What it says: Fauci said that if Trump urged his supporters to get the vaccine, “I can’t imagine … that they wouldn’t get vaccinated.”
- “If he came out and said, “go get vaccinated, it’s really important for your health, the health of your family and the health of the country,” it seems absolutely inevitable that the vast majority of people who are your closest followers will hear you. ” .
- “I am just amazed that the high percentage of Republicans say they don’t want to be vaccinated. I don’t understand where it comes from. This is not a political issue. This is a public health issue. “
Flashback: Trump encouraged his supporters to get the coronavirus vaccine for the first time at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in late February, saying, “Everyone should go get the shot,” after ascertain that the vaccine is not “painful.”
Methodology: NPR / PBS NewsHour / Marist survey of 1,227 adults from March 3 to 8 in English and Spanish via mobile and landline phones, margin of error ± 3.4 percentage points.