Trump knows vaccination resistance is slaughtering his political base
MINOT, N.D. — Believe it or not, I think disgraced former President Donald Trump does actually know how to do basic arithmetic.
I think that’s why so much of his spat with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has centered on COVID-19 politics.
DeSantis has raised his national profile during the pandemic, in part, by pandering to the anti-vaccine crowd. DeSantis has refused to divulge details about the status of his booster vaccination, which prompted Trump to take a thinly veiled shot at him, suggesting that political leaders who keep that information private are “gutless.”
Trump, for all his faults, has been transparent about his own vaccination status. He has urged his followers to get vaccinated. And, let’s be fair to the man, his administration is owed a great deal of credit for helping to hasten the COVID-19 vaccines to market.
That’s an odd thing, given where his political base is on vaccines. There is a heavy overlap between Trump World and the anti-vaccination crowd. Normally, Trump is willing to pander to even the ugliest and most extreme elements of his base, but on vaccines he’s taken a stand.
