Donald Trump just accidentally told the truth for once
Sometimes even Donald Trump tells the truth, if only by accident. The truth is often such a big target that it’s hard to miss. So even a pathological liar like Trump is going to hit it once in a while. These days the truth Trump is telling is that vaccines work. But in stating the obvious he gives himself laughably false credit and ultimately misses the larger point.
In a cringeworthy interview published Wednesday, Trump calls the vaccines available “very, very good.” He then adds that “the ones who get very sick and go to the hospital are the ones that don’t take the vaccine. The results from the vaccine are very good, and if you do get [Covid-19], it’s a very minor form. People aren’t dying when they take the vaccine.” Actually, people can still die if they’re vaccinated, it’s just far, far less likely. But never mind. So far so good anyway.
But prelude to these pro-vaccination comments, of course, was a typically Trumpian megalomaniacal brag. “I came up with a vaccine,” Trump said, then added in Jon Lovitz as Tommy Flanagan style, “with three vaccines. All are very, very good. Came up with three of them in less than nine months.” Yeah, that’s the ticket. “It was supposed to take five to 12 years.”
No one is surprised that Trump is trying to change history by claiming credit for “coming up with” the vaccines all by himself and without any help. No one is surprised that millions of idiots will even believe him. But it’s the coda to his comment that is most troubling, and a missed point that continues to be largely missed even by the mainstream media.
Trump continues to insist that “it’s still their choice” whether or not people get vaccinated, adding, “if you take the vaccine, you’re protected.” Only a complete narcissist like Trump could leave it at that, feeding the narrative that deciding not to take the vaccine boils down to a matter of mere personal choice.
It is the perpetuation of the misleading idea, that taking or not taking the vaccine is part of the American spirit of free choice and it exists entirely in a vacuum, consisting of only the lone maverick making the choice and the consequences of that choice, that is the principle cause of the trouble we are currently in. By removing the element of social responsibility, Trump reinforces the idea that there’s something courageous, something individualistic, something — American — in deciding not to take the vaccine.
The problem, of course, is that infected people pass the infection on to others. So when an individual decides not to become vaccinated, he or she is making a choice not just for themselves but for the innocent people they accidentally infect. Because when you become vaccinated not only are you less likely to get Covid you are also less likely to become a carrier and infect others. When you refuse to get vaccinated you are far likelier to get infected and almost certain to pass the infection on to someone else.
If everyone were vaccinated Covid would eventually die out. We know this to be true because that’s how we got rid of polio, smallpox, measles, hepatitis A and B, rubella, mumps, diphtheria and many other diseases. But because Trump, Fox News, Republicans and other anti-vaxxer idiots continue to bang the “freedom” drum, this larger point is being largely missed or even forgotten. While the mainstream media does make this point, they don’t make it loud enough or long enough. It’s not penetrating the Americans psyche with quite the same efficacy as the message that the 2020 election was stolen is a Big Lie.
The message should be this. While it’s true that getting the Covid vaccine may hurt and may cause side effects, it’s an act of individual heroism and social responsibility. It doesn’t just keep you and your family safer but it safeguards everyone you come into contact with. If you get vaccinated and encourage others to do so you will be saving lives and, above all, helping to once and forever eradicate this terrible plague called Covid-19.
The truly heroic part is there are no medals and there is no individual recognition for getting vaccinated. You will never have a statue made in your honor, you will never get a testimonial dinner for it, you will never win a Nobel Prize or an Olympic Gold medal for it. It’s a perfect chance for everyone to be quietly yet genuinely heroic without an ounce of recognition or reward. And that, my friends, is what real heroism is all about. And that is the message we should be repeating over and over until it finally gets through. And, as ever, ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, comrades and friends, stay safe, and have a merry Christmas.
Robert Harrington is an American expat living in Britain. He is a portrait painter.