Debates over Trump’s involvement in the post never gained momentum, given his alienation from the presidents’ club at the end of his term and the bitter way he left Washington on the day of the inauguration, according to acquaintances. with the subject.
It was a conversation that January between former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama that formed the basis of the vaccination campaign, which debuted Thursday. Because Trump made the decision not to join his predecessors at that historic moment, said a person close to the project, he was not asked to participate in the public service announcement.
Trump expressed little interest in joining his predecessors to promote the vaccine, and the team that organized the PSA did not consider it likely that the 45th president would participate, leaving little opening for his inclusion.
“He has given no sign of wanting to be included in such moments,” an aide to a former president told CNN.
A number of reasons
There doesn’t seem to be a single reason for Trump’s exclusion, said one person involved in the production, but rather the feeling that his involvement was never a real possibility.
An Ad Council spokesman, who produced the spot, said “it was something that started with former presidents while President Trump was still in office” when asked why Trump was not included.
Trump spokesmen did not answer questions about why he was not involved.
When he was in office, Trump administration officials discussed how and when he could receive a coronavirus vaccine, including the possibility of getting it on camera. Still, Trump himself did not seem particularly eager to see how the vaccine was obtained, said a person familiar with the situation, although he was promoting its development and wanted to thank it.
A former Trump administration official said the former president was also very sensitive to his image after being hospitalized with Covid and that he did not appear receptive to any photooperative that could show his health and fitness again. .
It was also debated at the time that Ivanka Trump received the shot publicly, an idea that did not come to fruition either. Instead, Vice President Mike Pence and his wife Karen Pence were the highest-profile Trump administration officials who were shot.
At the sites, former presidents described what they missed during the pandemic and why they want to get vaccinated. Clinton says she wants to “get back to work” and “be able to move.” Obama says he misses visiting his mother-in-law and says he wants to “hug her and see her on her birthday.” And Bush says he “really wants to go to Opening Day at Texas Rangers Stadium with the full stadium.”
Former President Jimmy Carter does not speak on camera, but the 96-year-old Democrat says during the post that he is being vaccinated “because we want this pandemic to end as soon as possible.”
The announcement ends with the four former presidents urging Americans to get the vaccine, as it shows images of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, Barack and Michelle Obama, George and Laura Bush and Bill and Hillary Clinton receiving their vaccines .
“Amazing job”
Almost a year ago, Trump was asked if he would consult with former presidents on how to handle the pandemic, a common practice for presidents facing large-scale crises.
“I think we’re doing an amazing job. So I don’t want to upset them, upset them,” he said at a White House coronavirus task force briefing. “I don’t think I’ll learn much and, you know, I guess you could say there’s probably a natural inclination not to call.”
These portraits have been moved back to their original location under Biden, which has demonstrated a desire to cultivate a more functional relationship with their predecessors. He said during a CNN town hall earlier this year that he had spoken with all but one of the former living presidents, probably with Trump, though he did not name him.
“Everyone, with one exception, picked up the phone and called me,” he told Anderson Cooper.
These kinds of consultations were mostly absent during Trump’s tenure, when he rarely (or never) spoke with the men in office before him. The only time the group met, for the funeral of former President George HW Bush at Washington National Cathedral, was a somewhat cold reception.
Trump broke precedents by boycotting Biden’s inauguration, choosing instead to leave Washington on the morning of Jan. 20 with a ceremony at Andrews Joint Base.
He left a note for Biden, whom the president described as “very generous,” but who has otherwise been harshly critical of his successor in statements at his Florida headquarters.
CNN’s Dan Merica contributed to this report.