Trump Says He Got The Covid-19 Booster, Rally Audience Boos

Former President Donald Trump announced in Dallas on Sunday that he had received a Covid-19 vaccine booster. This revelation was met with boos from the crowd.

Trump has been evasive about openly supporting the vaccine. He contracted Covid-19 during his presidency, but downplayed the virus and encouraged mistrust of scientists. He did not have his own vaccination documented by official photographers, and did not participate in a Covid-19 public service video with all other living former presidents.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top expert on infectious disease, said Tuesday of Trump’s admission, “I’m very pleased that he did say that and come out publicly and say that he has been vaccinated and boosted. But to get booed for saying that just tells you about the extraordinary divisiveness we have going into this public health issue, which should be devoid of divisiveness. It should just be focusing on what the public health principles are.”

Trump was attending a stop on former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly‘s tour at the time of this admission. “Both the President and I are vaxxed,” O’Reilly said, according to a video O’Reilly posted of the event. Then, he asked Trump, “Did you get the booster?”

“Yes,” Trump replied. Members of the audience booed in response. “Don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t,” Trump said, evidently trying to stop the boos.

On Monday, O’Reilly said that he had advised Trump to use the existence of the vaccine to his advantage, and to emphasize that it had been first developed under his administration.

In a video on O’Reilly’s site, Trump tells supporters that they should take credit for the vaccine, and that criticizing the vaccine appeased the agenda of their enemies.

“Take credit for it,” Trump says in the video. “Take credit for it. It’s great. What we’ve done is historic. Don’t let them take it away. Don’t take it away from ourselves. You are playing right into their hands when you sort of like, ‘oh, the vaccine.’ If you don’t want to take it, you shouldn’t be forced to take it. No mandates. But take credit, because we saved tens of millions of lives. Take credit. Don’t let them take that away from you.”

This is not the first time Trump has received boos for speaking positively of vaccination. In August, he said at an Alabama rally, “I believe totally in your freedoms. I do. You’ve got to do what you have to do. But I recommend, take the vaccines. I did it. It’s good. Take the vaccines.” This was likewise met with boos from the audience.

In September, Trump said in an interview that he doubted he would get the vaccine booster. “I’ll look at stuff later on,” he said. “I’m not against it, but it’s probably not for me.”