Earlier, we discussed some of Joy Reid’s hot takes from last year regarding vaccines developed during the Trump administration, which have actually proven to be quite useful in the war on COVID19. See, Joy didn’t seem to think that we should trust “a vaccine Trump had anything to do with.”
I mean, will anyone … anyone at all … ever fully trust the @CDCgov again? And who on God's earth would trust a vaccine approved by the @US_FDA ?? How do we get a vaccine distributed after this broken, Trumpist nonsense has infected everything? Even if Biden wins?
— Joy-Ann (Pro-Democracy) Reid 😷 (@JoyAnnReid) September 18, 2020
After Trump's HHS, led by a guy who sees shadows on his wall and thinks government scientists are leading a seditious coup vandalized the CDC website with fake news, rending the agency very hard to trust, why would any sensible person take a vaccine Trump had anything to do with? https://t.co/cEtOEmIM0I
— Joy-Ann (Pro-Democracy) Reid 😷 (@JoyAnnReid) September 19, 2020
Well, would you believe that Joy Reid isn’t the only MSNBC host with problematic COVID19 vaccine tweets in her past?
Glenn Greenwald dug up another troubling tweet, this one from Chris Hayes:
When you devote the entirety of your worldview and work to monomaniacally opposing a single man, it can take you to some very bizarre and even dark places: https://t.co/fVAiSd8JOB
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) July 23, 2021
How is this OK, Chris?
Trump's obsession/focus on a vaccine is nuts. It is totally immaterial to the short-term challenges, which are substantial. https://t.co/tQa6xc7r7y
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) March 3, 2020
Some people think Greenwald’s making too big a deal out of Hayes’ tweet because there was nothing wrong with Hayes’ tweet:
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You know we can see the date on that is March 3, 2020, right?
— Joyous Panther (@JoyousPanther) July 23, 2021
Glenn, the date on this tweet makes it perfectly reasonable. Do you remember what early March was like?
— MadLib (@MadLib55X) July 23, 2021
We do. It was bad. But so was Hayes’ tweet.
Wasn’t his point at that time that the vaccine wouldn’t be available for several months therefore we needed a strategy in the interim?
— Tim Fogarty (@liquiddahang) July 23, 2021
“Short-term challenges” <- Chris was right, it wasn’t a solution to the short term challenges on March 3. It’s our long term solution now.
— Nick Pappas (@NickAPappas) July 23, 2021
There’s nothing wrong with Hayes emphasizing the importance of finding immediate solutions to the immediate problem of COVID19, especially because so many in the media downplayed the seriousness of the disease at the start of the pandemic.
But there was also nothing wrong with “Donald Trump’s obsession/focus on a vaccine.” Because a vaccine was our best bet for a global strategy to end the pandemic. In his tweet, Hayes was suggesting that Trump emphasizing the importance of a vaccine and looking for short-term solutions were mutually exclusive. Those things were not mutually exclusive.
There was a great deal that we didn’t know about COVID19 at the time Hayes wrote his tweet. And it’s hard to blame Hayes for being frustrated by and afraid of the unknown, because a lot of us were. We didn’t know how many people would get sick or how many would die. But we also didn’t know the best way to kneecap the pandemic. We did know that a vaccine had the potential to do a lot of long-term good. And if Chris Hayes weren’t a hack, he would’ve given Donald Trump credit for pursuing a vaccine.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) July 23, 2021
Remember when Trump being pro-vax turned libs anti-vax? Read the comments under this tweet from last year. Wild. https://t.co/HnK1m0qoxz
— Seth Dillon (@SethDillon) July 23, 2021
Here are some of those comments:
“Vaccine easy. Medical care hard. Me like vaccines.” – Trump thoughts
— JustaWoman (@petitlarcenous) March 4, 2020
I'll believe it when I see the proof. This sounds like a typical Trump Republican smokescreen to cover up his incompetence.
— Bighead Tales – Vaccinated & best 5G service ever! (@BigHeadTales) March 4, 2020
Without proper research and trials, the vaccine may be more deadly than the virus.
— Mark Spector (@SpectorMark) March 4, 2020
Yeah maybe, but how long for clinical trials! They are all idiots and we are doomed!
Make a vaccine in 3 days ok, no testing, give it to population everyone turns into zombies! Walking dead here we come!
— Patricia wages🆘️ RIP my beautiful Stormy💔💔 (@patricia_wages) March 3, 2020
My fear is that he'll skip safety testing altogether in order to score a short-term win.
— Arkenor (@Arkenor) March 3, 2020
We had no reason to believe that, of course. But that didn’t stop the media and Democrats from running with that narrative for months.
I don't think you are qualified to opine on this Chris, as you are neither a doctor nor expert. A vaccine as well as shorter term fixes are both crucial in different ways.
— 🇺🇸 🏳️🌈 (@Clint4USA) March 3, 2020
Exactly.
I'll take "Tweets that aged like milk in the noonday sun" for $500, Alex.
— Physics Geek (@physicsgeek) July 23, 2021
Yep. Meanwhile, Chris Hayes didn’t have anything to say on March 4, 2020, when then-candidate Joe Biden vowed to cure cancer, Alzheimer’s, and diabetes if elected to the presidency. Guess he was just too upset by Donald Trump wanting a COVID19 vaccine.
If you go back to this period (I have extensively) progressives were so damn sure they right about everything and conservatives were ridiculed for daring to question almost anything. https://t.co/1JdjlFXATR
— David Marcus (@BlueBoxDave) July 23, 2021
The replies about not taking the vaccine below this tweet are golden.
When Trump’s in office people on the left didn’t want to take a rushed vaccine. Now that he is out, they want to force everyone to get it. It’s all theater. https://t.co/q8BDH6OPBp
— Austin (@ajabs85) July 23, 2021
Really boring theater.
***
Update:
So apparently Chris Hayes doesn’t think his tweet was a mistake:
Hundreds of thousands of people died between the tweet below and the first shots in arms. Talking about vaccines on March 3 was *insane* because it had nothing to do with the very immediate catastrophe. https://t.co/jbbLBYHQbH
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) July 23, 2021
Nice try, Chris, but no:
talking about vaccines on march 3 is how we got to vaccine delivery by december 2020. anyone so blinded by partisanship they can’t admit this was a critical area of national focus is unfit to lead a news program. https://t.co/mjG5CBHwcm
— Mike Solana (@micsolana) July 23, 2021
Correct. But Chris Hayes isn’t self-aware enough to care.
And it wasn’t just this one instance: Trump brought up again and again as the virus spread like wildfire in early March. Anyway, I’ve spent the last 18 months of my career trying very hard to reduce amount of illness and death in this country. Others have done otherwise.
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) July 23, 2021
If that were true, he would have taken Joy Reid aside and set her straight. So he can spare us the self-righteous hero talk.
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