August 22, 2021

Donald Trump Encouraged People at His Rally to Get Vaccinated. They Booed Him.

Peter Zay/Anadolu Agency/Getty

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Donald Trump spoke at a rally in Cullman, Alabama, on Saturday night, returning to his safest of safe spaces to deliver the kind of Big Lie–infused macho fantasy babble that typically sends his audiences swooning and guffawing into the night.

But! The rally didn’t go exactly as scripted.

“You know what? I believe totally in your freedoms, I do. You gotta do what you have to do.” Raucous applause. “But I recommend taking the vaccine! I did it. It’s good. Take the vaccines.” Confusion, disagreement, grumbling, then booing. “No, that’s okay, that’s all right, you’ve got your freedoms. But I happened to take the vaccine.”

“If it doesn’t work, you’ll be the first to know.” Relief, delight, laughter, sweet release.

Two notes: 

1) According to a Trump adviser, the then-president and his wife, Melania, got the vaccine in January—a fact that wasn’t reported until March. 

2) The rally brought thousands of people to York Family Farms in Cullman County, which is currently in the midst of a huge COVID spike. 

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