MSNBC says Republicans hating mandates but loving vaccines 'may seem like another bit of blatant hypocrisy from the GOP'

It was just a couple of weeks ago when the New York Times’ Blake Hounshell tweeted that Virginia’s Glenn Youngkin — not Greg Abbott or Ron DeSantis — had “defined the new Republican mainstream position” when it comes to vaccines: the GOP is for the vaccine but opposes vaccine mandates. How or why Hounshell decided to work the word “new” into that tweet is a mystery to us; Youngkin certainly wasn’t the first Republican to forward that idea.

Fast-forward a couple of weeks, and MSNBC has published an opinion piece on why Republicans hate vaccine mandates but love vaccines. It’s all pretty much summed up in the subhead: “Vaccine mandates go against small government? Maybe — but is a pandemic the time to lean into that?”

The GOP hates vaccine mandates but loves vaccines. Here's why. https://t.co/4hx2TfmR5K

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) December 12, 2021

Opinion columnist Hayes Brown writes:

… as many people have pointed out, the Republican senators who demonize the mandate for the private sector are themselves already vaccinated.

That may seem like another bit of blatant hypocrisy from the GOP. But for a party that’s more notable for abandoning its moral foundations in pursuit of naked power grabs, this rejection of a federal vaccine mandate is actually one of the most ideologically consistent stances that the Republican Party has held in a decade. It’s unfortunate, though, that the party has chosen to find its conservative, small-government ideals only in relation to a pandemic that is still killing 1,100 Americans a week.

The justification for this seeming dissonance, at least in their framing, comes down to personal choice.

No need to read the article. We all know why.

You can be an advocate of something without forcing it onto others. Some people (conservatives, mostly) think that people should be able to make their own decisions on what they put in their body.

It's a simple concept. Try it.

— Steve Sutter (@sutt9055) December 13, 2021

Vaccines are good. Government overreach is bad. Pretty simple.

— Eric Sullivan (@EricSulllivan) December 13, 2021

That’s a funny way of saying that you people can’t comprehend the idea of doing or not doing something without being told to

— MacK with a big iron on his hip (@macabaret_17) December 13, 2021

I'm 3x vaccinated. I oppose all mandates.

— Corrine (@thecoraesthetic) December 12, 2021

So much journalising happening here

— FlyingASEL (@IFlyASEL) December 13, 2021

I have to imagine a good percentage of your viewers/readers feel the same way. It’s a pretty straightforward concept.

— Unfettered Dad (@UnfetteredDad) December 12, 2021

Because that is a logical and reasoned way to view these things?

— Cautious Viewer (@CautiousViewer) December 12, 2021

Possibly because we believe in individual freedom and you don't?

Just a thought…

— David Ross (@djross95) December 13, 2021

You guys still don't understand? We conservatives are pro freedom. We think freedom is the most valuable of the rights. That's why we love vaccines but hate forcing that on someone

— Moosa (@patra_moosa) December 13, 2021

Get your jab and mind your own business. Pretty easy stuff.

— K9Strong (@CatahoulaLD) December 12, 2021

Did MSNBC really think they’d owned the GOP with this one?

Related:

NYT editor says Glenn Youngkin ‘has defined the new Republican mainstream position’: pro-vaccine, anti-mandate https://t.co/kCci1aU94y

— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) December 4, 2021