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Trump breaking with MAGA base over vaccines? Bannon slams tech meet; Bernie Sanders says POTUS ‘gets it right sometimes’
In a significant break from Health Secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, Donald Trump said that he's supportive of vaccines.
President Donald Trump, on Friday, said he was supportive of vaccines, breaking from Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr's stance.
During a meeting at the Oval Office, Trump was asked about Kennedy's vaccine mandate changes, which include limiting which children are eligible for vaccines. “I think you have to be very careful when you say that some people don't have to be vaccinated,” Trump said, adding “They're just, pure and simple — they work. They're not controversial at all. And I think those vaccines should be used.”
Notably, Kennedy has been slammed for his new vaccine mandates and the staffing shake-up at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention which saw several walkouts. At the Senate hearing, Kennedy was also lambasted for massive changes that upended years of vaccine policy and research.
“I think Secretary Kennedy is dead set on making it harder for children to get vaccines and that kids are going to die because of it,” Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon said during the hearing.
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Trump's difference with Kennedy on vaccines has already ruffled some feathers, with one person saying on X “So, Trump, who just days ago requested the lying vaccine makers should release the same cooked-book clotshot data they’re showing him, but now Trump is smarter than Florida Surgeon General?” However, it is not just his Oval Office comments that have caused unease. Steve Bannon, who served as the White House's chief strategist for some months during Trump's first term, also railed against the President for the dinner with tech heads that he hosted.
Bannon slams Trump for dinner with tech heads
Expressing support for Kennedy, Bannon slammed Trump's dinner plan with the likes of Meta head Mark Zuckerberg and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.
“Zuckerberg should be in a cell, not at dinner with the President!,” he said, adding, "And Bill Gates, "Mr. Vaccine" himself? Sitting there on the very day Bobby Kennedy is being torn apart on the Hill. What are we doing? Whoever set that up should be perp-walked out of the White House."
Praise from an unlikely quarter
While Trump's own base might not be on the same page about vaccines, the President has received support from an unlikely quarter. Democrat Senator Bernie Sanders, who is otherwise a vocal critic of the Republican, wrote on X: “Even President Trump gets it right once in awhile. Vaccines are safe and effective. They have saved millions of lives. Sadly, Sec. Kennedy disagrees. We need an HHS Secretary who believes in science, not conspiracy theories.”
Notably, Trump's stance on vaccines has been far from consistent given that he's said he opposes vaccine mandates and signed a presidential action earlier this year to eliminate federal funding for Covid vaccine mandates in schools.
