There’s one notable former president missing from this new PSA from the Ad Council telling Americans to get vaccinated:
JUST POSTED: Former presidents Obama, Bush, Clinton, Carter join ad campaign to win over vaccine skeptics.
“This vaccine means hope,” Obama says in one of the new ads going up today, part of @AdCouncil’s national effort. pic.twitter.com/ffmuOsVjSE
— Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) March 11, 2021
So, did they even ask former President Trump to join?
Did the producers of the ad ask ex-president Trump to appear? https://t.co/b3UEym7S53
— Daniel M. Jimenez (@DMJreports) March 11, 2021
From the Washington Post report on the ad, it’s not clear:
The ads do not feature Donald Trump. The effort to feature the former presidents was begun in December, when Trump was still in office, said Ben Dorf, a vice president at the Ad Council. Some of the ads were also filmed at January’s presidential inauguration, which Trump did not attend.
It is weird that he’s not involved in this:
I can think of one former President who could really help with a strong vaccine push.
But Trump is in the odd position of taking credit for the vaccine while bizarrely avoiding urging his supporters to get it https://t.co/Xf2LjgLrnm
— Steven Lemongello (@SteveLemongello) March 11, 2021
And:
Rolling out the ex-presidents for a public health campaign was one of those normal WH moves that was conspicuously absent last year https://t.co/8ic1CCty01
— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) March 11, 2021
He did put out a statement on Thursday reminding everyone of his role in pushing vaccine development:
NEW TRUMP STATEMENT: "I hope everyone remembers when they’re getting the COVID-19 (often referred to as the China Virus) Vaccine, that if I wasn’t President, you wouldn’t be getting that beautiful 'shot' for 5 years…I hope everyone remembers!" pic.twitter.com/54JtlxS3EA
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) March 10, 2021
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