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"Many Republicans still want a reckoning over the government-imposed pandemic lockdowns and mandates, particularly for vaccines. While they support former President Donald Trump, they don't resonate with his praise of COVID-19 vaccines and Operation Warp Speed.
When it comes to the vaccine issue, many of them align with independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who remains one of the most outspoken critics of the shots' safety.
Pundits and voters are at odds about whether the issue will play a role in determining if President Trump returns to the White House, or if his stance will shift support to Mr. Kennedy, who is running as an independent candidate.
In a three-way general election Quinnipiac poll conducted on Nov. 1, Mr. Kennedy pulled more votes from President Trump than from President Joe Biden, flipping what would have been a narrow victory for President Trump to a win for President Biden. The scenario repeated when independent candidate Cornel West was added to the hypothetical ballot.
President Trump maintains a commanding lead among Republican presidential candidates in every national poll.
Mr. Kennedy is a favorite among independents and voters under the age of 45. President Biden dominates the Democratic field.
President Trump’s defense of Operation Warp Speed, the program he rolled out in May 2020 to spur COVID-19 vaccine development and distribution amidst the pandemic, remains a sticking point for some of his supporters, who now say they will vote for Mr. Kennedy in 2024.
The initiative featured a partnership between the government, the military, and the private sector, with the government paying for millions of vaccine doses to be produced.
MaryJo Perry, a longtime advocate for vaccine choice and a Trump supporter, thinks votes will be at a premium come Election Day, particularly because the independent field is becoming more competitive. Besides Mr. Kennedy and Mr. West, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) has hinted at a possible independent run.
Ms. Perry, president of Mississippi Parents for Vaccine Rights, believes advocates for medical freedom could determine who is ultimately president.
She believes that Mr. Kennedy is 'pulling votes from Trump' because of the former president's stance on the vaccines.
'People care about medical freedom. It’s an important issue here in Mississippi, and across the country,' Ms. Perry told The Epoch Times.
'Trump should admit he was wrong about Operation Warp Speed and that COVID vaccines have been dangerous. That would make a difference among people he has offended.'
President Trump released a statement in March 2021 saying: 'I hope everyone remembers when they’re getting the COVID-19 Vaccine, that if I wasn’t President, you wouldn’t be getting that beautiful "shot" for 5 years, at best, and probably wouldn’t be getting it at all.[']
'I hope everyone remembers!'
President Trump said in an interview on Fox News that without the vaccine, 100 million people might have died from COVID-19. He added that he is 'very proud' of his efforts.
The former president has on many occasions said that he is not in favor of vaccine mandates.
'I really believe in somebody’s choice, somebody’s freedom. I’m a big fan of our freedoms, and people have to make that choice for themselves,' he said.
The Trump campaign didn't respond to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.
Wes Farno, a Republican campaign strategist in Ohio, doesn't believe a significant number of people will switch their votes from President Trump to Mr. Kennedy over the vaccines.
President Trump won in Ohio by eight percentage points in both 2016 and 2020. The Ohio Republican Party recently endorsed President Trump for the nomination in 2024.
'The positives of a Trump presidency far outweigh the negatives,' Mr. Farno said.
Only 16 percent of adults had received the newest COVID-19 vaccine boosters as of Nov. 25, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
A Kaiser Family Foundation survey of adults released in September showed that political affiliation is a factor in COVID-19 vaccine uptake. Eight in 10 Democrats said they trust the new shots compared to 1 in 3 Republicans.
Only 24 percent of Republicans planned to get the new vaccine compared to 70 percent of Democrat respondents.
Vaccine Safety Critic
An environmental attorney, Mr. Kennedy founded Children’s Health Defense, a nonprofit that aims to end childhood health epidemics by promoting vaccine safeguards, among other initiatives.
Earlier this year, Mr. Kennedy told podcaster Joe Rogan that ivermectin was suppressed by the FDA so that the COVID-19 vaccines could be granted emergency use authorization.
He has criticized Big Pharma, vaccine safety, and government mandates for years.
Since launching his presidential campaign, Mr. Kennedy has made his stances on the COVID-19 vaccines, and vaccines in general, a frequent talking point.
'I would argue that the science is very clear right now that they [vaccines] caused a lot more problems than they averted,' Mr. Kennedy said on 'Piers Morgan Uncensored' in late April.
'And if you look at the countries that did not vaccinate, they had the lowest death rates, they had the lowest COVID and infection rates.'
Additional data show a 'direct correlation' between excess deaths and high vaccination rates in developed countries, he said.
A vocal opponent of the pharmaceutical industry, Mr. Kennedy has pledged to ban pharmaceutical advertising if elected president.
Though critics call Mr. Kennedy a 'conspiracy theorist' and 'anti-vaccine' for speaking out about vaccine safety, multiple studies have shown that the COVID-19 vaccines are linked to a plethora of health conditions, including myocarditis and heart disease.
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