A new report from ABC News highlights that a number of Republican candidates running in 2022 are refusing to get the COVID vaccines or disclose their vaccination status — “even as former President Donald Trump calls on his followers to get the vaccine,” and the candidates aggressively court Trump for his endorsement.
Via ABC News, here’s a look at some of the 2022 Republicans who want Trump’s support but he would consider “gutless”:
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AZ-GOV: “Former television anchor Kari Lake, who Trump endorsed in the state’s gubernatorial primary, said recently that she has ‘enough concern about the vaccine’ to not take it.”
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AZ-SEN: “Justin Olson, a candidate for U.S. Senate in Arizona, also said this month that he has not been vaccinated — calling his decision ‘an issue of rebellion against’ the Biden administration’s vaccine mandates.” And “Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, who is also running for U.S. Senate, has mocked reporters who have questioned him about it.”
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FL-GOV: “Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a longtime Trump ally, has dodged questions about whether he’s received a booster shot.”
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GA-SEN: “Former NFL running back Herschel Walker, who earned Trump’s endorsement for U.S. Senate in Georgia, has declined to say whether he has been vaccinated.”
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OH-SEN: “The early frontrunner in Ohio’s GOP primary for U.S. Senate, Josh Mandel, has aligned himself with Trump but recently implied that he has not been vaccinated.”
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WI-SEN: “Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., enthusiastically accepted Trump’s endorsement for reelection, even as he continues to stoke anti-vaccine fears.”
Read the full report from ABC News: Candidates’ vaccine hesitancy ‘demonstrates the limits’ of Trump’s grip on GOP, say experts
