Democrats should stop the political blame game and give credit to the Trump Administration for developing multiple COVID-19 vaccines, helping to encourage hesitant Americans to receive the shot.
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) pushed Biden Administration officials to acknowledge the Trump Administration’s enormous contributions in developing multiple effective COVID-19 vaccines at today’s Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing. Sen. Tuberville went on to urge public officials to take the political blame game out of the conversation in order to unite around a positive message that encourages Americans to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical advisor to President Biden, admitted that the Trump Administration deserves a “considerable amount of credit.”
Excerpts from Sen. Tuberville’s line of questioning can be found below and the full video can be found here.
TUBERVILLE: “This has been tough on the American people. We all know that, everybody’s worked hard to try to get through this. Politics has played a huge role in this. We have all watched it from close and afar. But I think people need a unifying message from all of us, because in my state of Alabama, we don’t have everyone taking a vaccine, and we’re having outbreaks as we speak.”
“You know, a lot of people voted for Donald Trump — a lot of people in the South, a lot of people in my state voted for [him] and we have to have a unified message. We can’t be blaming this or that.”
“So Dr. Fauci, can you understand that unless this Administration acknowledges the efforts of the last one, a large part of Americans, they’re going to continue to feel like nothing’s positive. They’re not going to take the vaccine. You understand what I’m saying?”
DR. FAUCI: “[T]hank you. That’s a very appropriate question that I would be pleased to answer. Having been present through the last year… I can tell you that no doubt the formerAdministration deserves a considerable amount of credit for the effort that was put into Operation Warp Speed, that was able to allow not only the rapid development and testing, but also the implementation of the vaccine. So, there’s no doubt in my mind, as someone who has been on both sides of the fence to say that’s the case.”
TUBERVILLE: “Positive attitude plus effort equals performance. And if we keep that positive attitude, we can get through this thing. We just need to quit fighting in the media and get everybody believing in the same thing. We’re all on the same team.”
Senator Tommy Tuberville represents Alabama in the United States Senate and is a member of the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans’ Affairs, and HELP Committees.
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