White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki says the data has not shown that President Joe Biden created vaccine hesitancy by raising questions about its development while he was a candidate.
During a White House press briefing on Wednesday, Psaki was asked by Fox News’ Peter Doocy, “As the president tries to reach unvaccinated Americans, has there been any thought given, looking back, to the possibility that he may have created some vaccine hesitancy when last year around this time the previous administration was rushing to get a vaccine authorized?”
He noted that then-candidate Biden said, “I trust vaccines, I trust scientists, but I don’t trust Donald Trump, and at this moment, the American people can’t either.”
“I think it’s safe to say he still doesn’t trust Donald Trump, so that hasn’t changed,” Psaki responded. “But he does trust scientists. He does trust data experts. And he does trust the people leading the CDC, the FDA, which is the gold standard of approval for vaccines.”
She also noted that Biden has credited experts and scientists in the Trump administration for “moving the vaccines forward.”
Still, Doocy asked, “At the time, when Donald Trump is out there saying, ‘We’re going to have a vaccine in the next couple weeks, next couple months’ and Joe Biden is out on the campaign trail saying, ‘Don’t trust Donald Trump,’ did that create any kind of vaccine hesitancy?”
“Not that we’ve seen in the data. I would note that at the time, just for context, the former president was also suggesting people inject versions of poison into their veins to cure Covid. So, I think that’s a relevant point,” Psaki said.
Watch the video below:
"I would note that at the time, just for context, the former president was also suggesting people inject versions of poison into their veins to cure Covid" — Jen Psaki to Peter Doocy pic.twitter.com/qdnySKMR3B
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 11, 2021
When Doocy noted that Biden also suggested that the country wait for the FDA to grant full authorization for the vaccine, the press secretary said, “The FDA works on the timeline of science. At the same time, we’ve also seen tens of millions of people’s lives saved who have gotten the vaccine.”
According to Politifact, “Biden’s statements on the campaign trail show that he was concerned that politics would influence the development and deployment of the vaccine, and that Trump could not be trusted.”
During an interview in August 2020, he said, “The way he (Trump) talks about the vaccine is not particularly rational. He’s talking about it being ready, he’s going to talk about moving it quicker than the scientists think it should be moved…People don’t believe that he’s telling the truth, therefore they’re not at all certain they’re going to take the vaccine. And one more thing: If and when the vaccine comes, it’s not likely to go through all the tests that need to be done, and the trials that are needed to be done.”
And in September, he asked, “When a president continues to mislead and lie, when we finally do, God willing, get a vaccine, who’s going to take the shot? Who’s going to take the shot? You going to be the first one to say, ‘Put me — sign me up, they now say it’s OK.’”
Several studies have found that the COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective.