Trump Tells Followers To Get COVID-19 Vaccine After Experts Told Him To Do So

Former President Donald Trump has urged his supporters to get the COVID-19 vaccine after being advised by health authorities and representatives of President Joe Biden's administration.

In a phone interview Tuesday night, Fox News anchor Maria Bartiromo asked Trump if he would advise the audience to get the vaccine.

"I would. I would recommend it and I would recommend it to a lot of people that don't want to get it and a lot of those people voted for me, frankly," he said.

On the other hand, Trump emphasized that people had the freedom to make their own decisions and abide by them. Nonetheless, he encouraged people to get vaccinated with a vaccine that is both safe and effective.

Trump's words come as a poll conducted by NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist found that almost half of Trump backers would refuse to have the vaccine if it were available.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading infectious disease physician, who had worked on Trump's White House Coronavirus Task Force and is on Biden's staff, had urged Trump to persuade his followers to get the vaccine, despite Trump stating in a Fox News Sunday interview that he was not urging his supporters to get inoculated.

Former members of Trump's COVID-19 response team have come forward to suggest that the vaccine should be promoted by Trump. Adm. Brett Giroir, a former assistant secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, told CNN that Trump and his former Vice President Mike Pence should be advising followers to get vaccinated.

According to Giroir, former President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence should personally urge all of their supporters to get the vaccine. He believes that the former president should be speaking out would be really significant.

Giroir also revealed that he was unaware that Trump and former First Lady Melania Trump had administered the vaccine while in office. It was a private medical decision on which he did not want to comment. Trump did not receive the vaccine in person or issue a comment about it, as it was only revealed after he had left office.

When asked whether Trump was vaccinated behind closed doors and if it was a mistake, Giroir said he didn't know until it was revealed in the press that Trump had been vaccinated. He believes the argument now is that "everyone has to come together and encourage every American."

“People who support our former President are really loyal to President Trump, and I believe his leadership still means a lot, and I believe we need to do a better job reaching out to the underserved, marginalized groups who have been negatively affected.”